Pokemon Emblem: Awaken the Ninja (2 Year Arc)
by Coral the Leviathan
Summary: What happened after the war against Plegia? What went on during the two years of peace? Read here and find out!
1. The Party and the Reveal

**I'm finally back readers~! Sorry for the long wait. Had college and other stories to work on. Not to mention a job. And let me tell you, it's not easy doing updates during back to school sales. Those were exhausting. Just mentioning it, I can see that long line of customers waiting at the registers. And boy, I mean long. Thankfully I wasn't closing that day, but still. That was a practical nightmare. Now then, enough delays. Let's get started, shall we?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or Pokemon. I also do not own the opening, which is Papermoon, a Soul Eater opening.**

* * *

 _ ***OPENING***_

 ** _(Instrumental)  
_** _(The scene begins with the assassination of East Ninja Village. Coral, watching the scene from above, lets out a loud scream. Scene then changes to the title)_

 _ **I'm falling**_  
 _ **Down into my shadow**_  
 _ **Holding in my every breath**_  
 _ **As I await the deadly night  
** (Coral fell in dark water. She looked up at the surface and saw her family looking down at her as she tried to reach them. A whirlpool was picked up, dragging her away from them)_

 _ **So scary**_  
 _ **But you can't give into this**_  
 _ **Fear of pumpkin carriages**_  
 _ **Cause all the witches see it in your eyes  
** (Chrom and Robin were walking down the halls of the former's castle with troubled looks. Camera zooms out to reveal that it was seen in the eye of a crazy ruler and a dark mage. Screenshots of a Dark Flier and a general covered the screen)_

 _ **See you in your dreams**_  
 _ **Yeah, baby  
** (Screenshots of each of the Shepherds and Emmeryn going on with their normal lives came and gone in order of appearance)_

 _ **Your nightmares, too**_  
 _ **That's where I'll find you  
** (Scene changed to somewhere in space where Arceus was seen watching over Coral)_

 _ **Fairy Blue**_  
 _ **It is only for you**_  
 _ **That I would crush the stars**_  
 _ **And put them on display  
**_ _(Coral, her Pokemon and the Shepherds were battling against the Risen and Plegians)  
_ _ **Black Paper Moon  
**_ _(Coral's team were watching their leader sadly watching the sunset)_

 _ **If you really put your faith in me  
** (Camera zooms over to many Pokemon that will be joining the Shepherds)_  
 _ **When you're lost here, I am**_  
 _ **Forever with your soul  
** (Marth was fighting off many Risen on her own while heading to a portal)_

 _ **Waiting here above you patiently**_  
 _ **Just like the shining moon  
** (Scene changed and Coral took Marth's place as she ran to her clan's killer with a killing intent. They clashed and fought. Coral skidded back as she glared up at the murderer)_

* * *

After the war against Plegia was over and Emmeryn was revealed to be alive the whole time, the Shepherds all returned home to Ylisse. Chrom and Robin kept their engagement silent, deciding to announce it after a celebration Flavia planned to have her people throw in Ylisse. Although questionable, the Shepherds all agreed that they should have that party, which would also count as a welcome back party for Emmeryn and a welcome and birthday party for Kazuki's Eevee.

Once the group returned to Ylisstol, the citizens were all shocked to see their exalt had lived after hearing rumors of her death. After they fully processed that their queen was indeed alive and with them, they welcomed Emmeryn back with open arms. After that, the whole city spent the rest of the day partying, whether it would be in their homes, in the streets, or in the castle walls. All in all, everyone was enjoying the time of peace. Well, almost all of them.

"You really have to go now?" Chrom asked Coral, who was packing up some food in a bag.

"I have to. Aversa is still out there. If she has a weapon from my village, my home, then she should know what happened to it. Why my village was destroyed," the ninja reasoned.

"At least stay for the celebration. We won the war and are now at a time of peace."

"Perhaps you are at a time of peace, but not me." Chrom looked at her in confusion. "Until I find the person responsible for the destruction of my home, I can never be at peace."

"And what will you do if you find them?"

" _When_ I find them, I'll kill them. I swore I would and I won't rest until the deed is done."

Chrom was about to say something against the idea, but then remembered that he had done the same thing to Gangrel earlier, when he thought his sister died for them. "I understand. But where will you go? Aversa could be anywhere by now. And I doubt she'll return to Plegia."

Coral went silent at his question, ceasing her packing. She had no leads, and even if she did find Aversa, she wasn't sure if she really was responsible for her home. For all she knew, Aversa could be working with someone else and got the weapons from that higher-up.

The Ylissean prince sensed the ninja's small conflict and came up with a solution. "I'm no tactician, but I do have an idea. How about you stay here? Work as a secret agent. Who knows? The missions you'll be on may lead you to clues on her whereabout. Not to mention, there are still a lot of Pokemon out there. If I recall, aren't you here also to bring them back? Maybe if you find an injured Pokemon, you can bring them here in Ylisse."

"And your people will be okay with it?" Coral asked, considering the offer.

"They're okay with our Pokemon. Why wouldn't they be okay with wild Pokemon staying? Besides, I'm pretty sure I saw some small, bird-like Pokemon in a few homes. And a couple of oversized rats and moving plants near the city."

The blue ninja thought about it and knew he was right. That and she also had a feeling that the prince wouldn't let her leave, not after everything they've been through. Plus, she also did kind of promised to bring all the Pokemon back to her world. Even if she managed to find them, she would need a place to keep them safe, especially from the bandits and hunters. She had no doubts that word spread about the Pokemon; it would be a matter of time before they become a target.

"Alright, I'll stay. But I expect the missions to send me everywhere. Every village we haven't been to, every town we haven't gone to, every forest or cave we haven't explored in, no matter how dangerous or mysterious it is," she said.

A smile formed on Chrom's face. "That's fine by me," he replied. "Now, if you can stop packing, let's go down for dinner. We have a big banquet going on." With that, the two went to the dining room.

* * *

In the room in question, every Shepherd were seated at the long table and were enjoying the meal the chefs prepared for them. Even their Pokemon were sitting at the table and enjoying the food.

"Oh man. All this food is definitely worth that big battle! I'm starving!" Vaike exclaimed, stuffing his face with some pasta.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" Maribelle scolded. "And just when I thought your appetite was the one thing that wasn't as vulgar as your personality."

"Can you blame him? We all fought hard back there," Sully reasoned.

"Especially the Pokemon. They fought their hardest out there," Lissa agreed, looking to their partners, whom were also stuffing their faces with food, though not as messy as the Shepherd fighter.

"At least they have better table manners than Vaike," the wealthy daughter sighed.

"Hope there's dessert later. I could use some good cake," Gaius said.

"Cake sounds nice for dessert!" Nowi agreed.

Kazuto looked and saw Donnel hesitating, simply looking at the food on the table. "Is there something wrong, Donnel?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just that... I'm a villager and I'm here eating in a castle with the royal family. What my folks would give to be in my place," the boy answered.

"That may be true, but Donnel, you're here because you fought with us. You helped us end the war. If anything, you became an inspiration to your people and all the other farmers and villagers out there. You've become a hero."

The farm boy took in what the ninja said and found it to be true. He may be a simple villager, but he fought with the Shepherds. He didn't get this far by sheer luck, nor was it only because of Wilbert. He got to this point through his own dedication, his own strength.

"Yeah. I guess I did," Donnel said at least. "Whew. Now that I got that off my chest, let's dig in!" He gathered some food on his plate and ate.

At this point, Chrom and Coral walked in.

Seth noticed the two entering. "What took you two so long?"

"To put it in simpler terms, we were discussing business," his trainer answered, taking a seat next to the disguised Zoroark and helping herself to the food.

Before Chrom could take his seat between his sister and Gladiknight, Robin walked up to him. "Hey, Chrom. Can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh sure, Robin," he nodded. The two left the room.

As they left, both the Gladiknight and the Pikachu glanced at each other before smirking at one another. They already know the secret between their trainers and had a feeling that it would be revealed soon enough.

"Why are you both smiling like that?" Anubis asked, noticing the looks on their faces.

"It does seem a bit suspicious," Merlin pointed out, also noticing the smirks.

The two simply smiled at them and continued eating.

* * *

With Chrom and Robin, the tactician was talking to the prince about their little secret.

"I know we said we will tell them after this celebration, but I don't think I can hide it for long. About us," she told him.

"I think I know what you mean. On our way back, I couldn't help but notice our Pokemon giving us these weird looks on their faces," he agreed.

"You don't think they know, do you?"

"Well considering that we were away from everyone else while they were distracted by the birth of Kazuki's Eevee, I doubt they would notice. Then again, Gladiknight has great senses, and Sparky is quite close to you..." Chrom raised an eyebrow as he realized one small detail. "Wait, why are we worried about this? Shouldn't it be okay if our partners know about our engagement?"

"Yeah, but what if they tell the other Pokemon? And don't forget that few of them can talk."

Chrom thought about the possibility and knew his fiancee had a point. Even if they can keep a secret, what if they talk about it with their trainers and another one of their Shepherds overheard? They want the engagement to be a secret, a surprise, a symbol of a good future for all of Ylisse.

"Well, I guess we can't keep it a secret for long then," he spoke at last. "Come. Let's spread the news to them all. Might even liven up the party."

Robin smiled in agreement to the idea. "Yeah. I suppose we kept this hidden long enough."

At that final decision, they went back inside and told the big news.

* * *

The next day... So to say it was a huge mess in the city of Ylisstol. After announcing the engagement to the Shepherds, everyone was partying like there was no tomorrow. Well, everyone but the Pokemon, ninjas, minus Kai, Emmeryn, Nowi, Panne, Donnel and the chefs, for they, influenced by Flavia, drank a lot of alcohol during the celebration. Drunk, both Chrom and Robin then announced the engagement to their people. At the big news, everyone was really happy for the prince and had been partying almost just as long as the Shepherds.

"I can't believe how crazy it was. Even Phila and Cordelia partied hard," Coral said to her fellow ninjas. The three teens, child and Pokemon were in a hall by a window.

"Well can you blame them? The war is over, Emmeryn is back, and Chrom and Robin are engaged. These guys have every right to party," Seth reasoned.

"I suppose that is true."

"Look on the bright side. At least it'll keep Kai quiet for the day," Kazuto said.

"That's cruel to say," Yuuki scolded her boyfriend.

"You know it's true. Besides, with how hard everyone partied, they'll need a longer rest than initially planned. Plus, it'll give us time to help clean up and prepare."

"Prepare what?" Kazuki asked, her Eevee resting on her head.

"Vee?"

"Prepare the wedding, of course. Chrom and Robin's wedding," the north ninja said. "They practically just recovered from war. And they are currently out of commission and will remain for some time. "

"Well, majority of the people are knocked out anyway. Might as well do something. Besides, it'll be good training," Coral agreed, as she leapt out of the castle from a window.

"It can make people happy," Seth pointed out, following after his trainer.

"Okay! Us too, Yasu!" Kazuki said to her Eevee, prepared to follow after the Zoroark and east ninja.

"Oh no you don't!" Yuuki intervened, grabbing her daughter by the back of her shirt.

"Why not?"

"Because you have a more important job. While we clean up the streets, you'll be in charge of the Shepherd's Pokemon and help them, Emmeryn, Panne, Nowi and Donnel clean the castle. The chefs did enough work, preparing so many food for us last night, so let them rest for the day."

Hearing that request Kazuki gasp in surprise. "Really?!"

"It's a big job, Kazuki. Think you can handle it?" Kazuto asked.

"Yes sir!" The young child rushed back into the dining room, where the Pokemon were trying to bring their partners to their room and the guests to the guest rooms.

"Should we leave our Pokemon with her too?" Yuuki asked Kazuto.

"The Shepherds' Pokemon are enough. Besides, we need more help around the city than in this castle," he reasoned.

"Good point."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the woods miles away from Ylisstol, a certain swordswoman was swinging her sword over her head. Ever since the day 'Emmeryn' committed suicide, Marth stayed in the woods near Ylisstol to train and to be on lookout for any Plegians. She had been so busy training, she wasn't aware of the news of the end of the war and Emmeryn's return.

' _I can't believe I trusted them,_ ' she thought. ' _I had thought the Pokemon being here, the ninjas being here, can change the future, but nothing changed. The exalt still died. If her future hasn't changed, than the Pokemon can't be trusted to change our future for the better._ '

She heard a sound at a distance and looked up to see a big, gray and orange bird flying to a branch, with what seemed like a bunch of fruit hanging out of its mouth. She saw a nest on the branch it was on and many small Pokemon similar to the big bird Pokemon were sticking their heads out of the nest, reaching for the food. Lowering its head, the suppose parent allowed its children to each take a fruit. As soon as its mouth was free of food, the bigger Pokemon sat and rested in the nest, its babies huddling close to it for warmth and comfort.

Watching them interact made Marth remember of her childhood, how her parents took care of her and her younger brother and be exhausted afterwards, especially considering their occupation. Not only that, it also made her think of her partner. Rather, what happened between them.

* * *

 _ ***FLASHBACK***_

It was after Seth faked Emmeryn's death, Marth was walking through the woods in the rain. Roxy was walking behind her. Sensing her trainer's depression, the Puppy Pokemon rushed up to her side and rubbed against her leg in an attempt to comfort her. In return, however, the swordswoman kicked her away.

"Go away!" she shouted. "I thought you Pokemon can make a difference for the future... But I see I was wrong! If you can't help me on my quest, then you're better off not following me at all! Get away and stay away!" Without another word, Marth took off, leaving Roxy standing in the middle of the woods, deeply hurt by what Marth said.

* * *

 _ ***END OF FLASHBACK***_

Marth hadn't seen Roxy since. She thought about going back to where she left her, but something was holding her back from doing so. Her heart tells her to go and reconcile with the Rockruff, but her mind was telling her to not waste any more time worrying and train as hard as she could to prevent the future from happening. Though she was training as hard as she could to prevent a certain future event from happening, deep down, she really wanted to see Roxy again. But even if she goes back, there was no way the Rock-type Pokemon was still waiting for her in the woods.

"I need a break," she sighed, grabbing a cloak and walking to the city of Ylisstol.

* * *

As she reached her destination, the first thing she saw was a mess. Some food and drinks were on the floor, some people were on the ground, knocked out, and kids and some Pokemon were cleaning up the mess that were made and brought the adults in their home. She was at the party the day before, but didn't stay long. All she knew about it was that they were celebrating the end of war against Plegia and that Chrom and Robin were getting married.

' _Glad I didn't stay long,_ ' she thought.

"Huh? Marth?" called a voice. The swordswoman turned and saw Coral looking down at her from the ceiling, holding some bags, a couple filled with trash. "Where have you been? We haven't seen you since the day Panne joined the Shepherds."

"I was... training," she answered. "These people really went all out, did they?"

"Tell me about it. The castle is just as bad. And all because Flavia and Vaike got Chrom and Robin really drunk. Not only that, but the east khan had her soldiers pass that alcohol out to all of Ylisstol. It's a good think none of the kids and Pokemon drank that stuff, or it would be an even bigger mess."

Marth let out a small chuckle. "Well, it looks like you need a hand. Mind if I help out?"

"Greatly appreciated." The blue ninja landed by her side and gave her an empty bag.

As they both cleaned the streets, Marth said, "I understand that they were happy, but they still didn't have to go this far."

"Exactly what I thought," Coral nodded in agreement. "But who can blame them? If it was me, I would probably do the same."

"For an engagement? Then again, I suppose Chrom isn't really your ruler."

The female ninja looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?" The question caused the blue-haired girl to look back at her, equally confused. "I'm talking about how Emmeryn's alive." Hearing those words made Marth widen her eyes in shock.

"Wait, what?" she asked.

"You didn't hear? I thought word travels fast. And you said you can see into the future. The exalt still lives. All thanks to Seth."

"Your friend?"

"Friend and Pokemon." That shocked Marth even more. "Since you're an ally, I suppose there's no harm in telling you, since you did help us out earlier. Seth is actually a Pokemon, one who is a master of illusions. His illusions are so powerful, it can fool a very large group."

Taking in all this information, Marth looked down and replayed all her words. ' _They... they did it? They saved her life? The exalt's death was fake?_ '

"My. What do we have here? I don't think I've ever seen you around before." The two girls turned and saw the exalt approaching them. The sight of the Ylisstol ruler made Marth catch her breath.

"Lady Emmeryn." Coral immediately bowed at her presence.

"Raise your head, Coral. You don't have to bow your head every time you see me," Emmeryn told her.

The blue ninja picked up her head. "As much as I understand and respect your kindness, it's a ninja's code to bow to someone of high status and respectful."

As they spoke, Marth couldn't remove her eyes from Emmeryn's face, not believing that the exalt was alive.

"And who's your friend?" the kind ruler asked, turning to the swordswoman.

"Oh yes. You haven't really met her. This is Marth, the one responsible for saving your life and Chrom's during the assassination attempt the day he and Gladiknight first did a Mega Evolution," Coral introduced.

"I see. So this is Marth. For saving my life and my brother's, you have my upmost gratitude. If there's anything I can do to help you, please don't hesitate to ask." All that met her offer was silence, which was starting to worry the exalt. "Is there something wrong?"

"You're really alive..." she breathed.

"You really didn't know?" Coral asked. She then noticed something different about Marth. "By the way, where's Roxy? I thought she's with you now."

At the mention of the Rockruff, Marth dropped the bag. "I- uh... I just remembered I have something important to do. Bye!" She rushed out of Ylisstol.

"What just happened?" Emmeryn asked.

"Don't know," the blue ninja answered.

* * *

With the swordswoman, she was rushing to the woods where she left Roxy. All guilt she was feeling when she left her partner was welling up inside her. What she did to Roxy the last time she saw her was starting to play in her head, making her feel even more guilty and worried about the Rockruff.

After a few hours of running, she finally made it to the spot where she left her Pokemon. Catching her breath, she looked around for the Puppy Pokemon. "Roxy! Roxy, are you here?! It's me! Roxy!" No sound were heard in response to her call, but that didn't stop Marth from calling out to her partner. "Roxy, please! Tell me if you're here! Look, I'm sorry! I never meant any of that! I didn't mean to not come back until now! Just please, Roxy. Please answer me! Come back to me, Roxy!" As she took a step forward, she saw something in some nearby shrubs. Walking towards it, she found a dirty, brown bandana, with cream-colored bone on it. To many, it would be nothing but an accessory, but to Marth, it was more than that.

* * *

 _ ***FLASHBACK***_

It was the day after Roxy joined Marth on her journey. During that time, the girl was feeling sore on her cheeks, for her Rockruff kept nuzzling and cuddling her cheek, or occasionally her neck, with the rocks around her neck.

"Ow ow ow..." she groaned, rubbing her face.

"Ruff?" Roxy noticed her trainer rubbing her face and seemed more confused or curious rather than worry.

"Can't you go easy on the cuddles? Or not use those rocks around your neck to do it?" Instead of a nod or a whimper, all she got from the Puppy Pokemon was a smile and head tilt.

' _That's nowhere close to the right response,_ ' she thought with a sweat drop. As she looked up, she saw a village up ahead. As soon as she saw civilization in front of her, an idea came to her. ' _I know!_ '

* * *

About an hour later, after contemplating and checking the accessory shop the village had, Marth picked out and bought the very same bandana the present Marth found, only more clean and new-looking.

"Hold still, Roxy," she told the Rockruff, who sat obediently as she tied the bandana around her neck, covering the rocks. "There. Fashionable and I don't have to worry about the rocks scarring my face."

Roxy looked down at the accessory around her neck and got teary eyed. Seeing her eyes like that made Marth panic.

"Huh?! What's wrong?! You don't like it? I was told I have weird fashion sense but-" She was cut off by Roxy jumping in her arms and happily nuzzled her. Thankfully because of the neckerchief, it didn't hurt as much as before. After the cuddles, Marth brought Roxy up to her eye level. "So you like it?"

"Rock ruff!" she nodded.

A smile formed on Marth's face at the answer. "I'm so glad! Let this also represent our friendship, okay?"

"Ruff!"

* * *

 _ ***END OF FLASHBACK***_

Tears formed in her eyes and dripped on the bandana at the memory of what it represents. And now that Marth found it in the shrubs, with no Roxy in sight, it could only mean one thing. "What have I done...?" Holding the bandana close to her, she fell to her knees and muttered out, "I'm sorry..."

"And? What are you going to do about it?" she heard. Looking up, she saw Coral looking down at her from a tree.

"Why are you here?" she demanded.

"You were acting weird earlier, so I followed you." Landing on the ground beside the swordswoman, Coral then asked, "So, what are you going to do? Are you really just going to let her go or are you going to find her and reconcile?"

"But what if she doesn't forgive me?"

Hearing her back down before trying made Coral angry. "So you're just going to let her go?! You? Who warned Chrom of the disaster that was to fall upon Emmeryn? You're not scared of fighting against an army of Risen, but you're scared of trying to make up to your friend?"

"And just what do you know about me?!" Marth demanded, angry that the ninja before her would speak as though she knew everything about her life.

"Enough to know that you suffered from a terrible tragedy." Until that. To hear those words, those very accurate words from her mouth, surprised her. "I know those eyes. In fact, back when we were talking about how Emmeryn survived, you acted a bit weird then, as though you were sure she had died. And not in a way where you were happy she did die, but rather, you took her death harder than anyone else, even harder than Chrom and Lissa, and they're her siblings. So tell me, Marth, unless if I'm wrong, you're hiding something else, aren't you? You don't just predict the future like Chrom told us you did. Otherwise Emmeryn's survival wouldn't be that much of a surprise for you. And I demand to know, Marth. Who. Are. You."

Halfway through Coral's observation, Marth was backing away from her until she felt a tree behind her. The ninja didn't stop her approach and got to her face as she asked her question. And truth be told, the blue swordswoman was quite frightened of her. So frightened, she forgot one important detail, as her interrogator stepped back, eyes wide in shock.

"Your eye... You couldn't be," she spoke in disbelief.

Knowing that the truth was out, Marth sighed and stood on her feet, preparing herself for the big reveal. "It's exactly what you think."

"But how? Not even Emmeryn said anything about a missing sister."

"That's because I'm not her sister." The swordswoman rubbed the back of her neck as she took in a deep breath. "Hi, my name is really Lucina. And... I'm Chrom and Robin's daughter from the future."


	2. The Reunion and the Wedding

**Finally done with this chapter. A long one this one. Longest chapter I've ever done in this story. May seem a little rushed to some of you readers, but I did my best with this one. There will be heartbreak scenes, happy scenes, scenes that may seem familiar to you (because I found them fitting for good reasons in this chapter), and there is also a new opening, for those of you who care about it. Now then, do read and enjoy this lengthy chapter, my good readers~!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or Pokemon. I also do not own the new opening, which is Let's Just Live, a RWBY opening.**

* * *

 _ ***OPENING***_

 ** _(Instrumental)_**  
 _(Grima had his clutches on a fallen Ylisstol. He opened his mouth to reveal a colorful orb that split into different color lights. A map of Ylisse appeared in the background and the lights all landed on different places. Camera zooms in to the blue light)_

 _ **It used to feel like a fairy tale**_  
 _ **Now it seems we were just pretending**_  
 _(Lucina is seen walking in the woods with her mask on_  
 _A strong wind blew and removed the mask from her face._  
 _Lucina turned and saw her friends behind her, whom all disappeared as Roxy appeared in their place)_  
 _ **We'd fix our world**_  
 _ **Then on our way to a happy ending**_  
 _(Lucina and Roxy continued to walk in the woods, unaware of Coral watching over them as she took her leave.)_

 _ **Then it turned out life**_  
 _ **Was far less like a bedtime story**_  
 _(Scene changed to Ylisstol in the castle, where Chrom and Robin danced in the throne room_ _)_  
 _ **Than a tragedy**_  
 _ **With no big reveal of the hero's glory**_  
 _(Camera zoomed in on Chrom's mark. Color changed and camera zoomed out, changing the scene to Lucina facing Grima_ _)_

 _ **And it seems we weren't prepared**_  
 _(Scene changed back to Coral in her burning village, her family standing before her.)_  
 _ **For a game that wasn't fair**_  
 _(Camera zoomed around them and replacing Coral's family was a cloaked man, with six shadowed Pokemon by his side)_

 _ **Do we just go home?**_  
 _ **Can we follow through?**_  
 _(Scene changed in Plegia, as camera moved from Aversa, to Validar, to a cloaked Plegian in Robin's clothes to Grima behind them.)_  
 _ **When all hope is gone,**_  
 _ **There is one thing we can do**_  
 _(The Fell Dragon let out a loud roar, summoning many Risen by their side, all who charged in to fight)_

 _ **Let's just live!**_  
 _ **Day by day and not be conquered by our sorrows**_  
 _ **The past can't hold us down**_  
 _ **We must break free**_  
 _(Chrome and Gladiknight fought against a pair of Risen Chief, with Robin and Sparky providing backup_  
 _The Shepherds all fought against Risen of the same class as them in pairs, with their Pokemon fighting alongside them)_

 _ **Let's just live**_  
 _ **Just one day let's forget about our problems**_  
 _ **Let's fall in love with life**_  
 _ **And just be free**_  
 _(Scene changed again to Lucina's friends from the future, all fighting off against their own Risen)_  
 _ **The sun will never fade**_  
 _(Lucina and a boy wearing the same cloak as Robin's killed a chief together)_  
 _ **The night won't steal our day**_  
 _(The scene changed to the future kids in the peaceful woods, looking at the camera)_  
 _ **Let's laugh and dance and love and let's just live**_  
 _(Scene changed again to Chrom, Robin, and Coral looking at the sky from their castle balcony, with the title appearing)_

* * *

In the woods, at night, Coral jumped from tree to tree, looking around her surroundings as she jumped to search for Roxy. As she searched, she couldn't help but think back to what happened a little earlier.

After the little confrontation she had with Marth, whose real name was Lucina, the latter had explained to her of the future she came from and why she was in the past. And not only that, but she apparently also had allies with her when she went back in time. Where they were, she didn't know, for they apparently separated when they ran into the portal. Once Lucina was done telling the truth, Coral promised not to tell Chrom about what she'd learned, for it was Lucina's secret and she had to be the one to tell him and the rest of the Shepherds, which the future girl understood and agreed to. After that, they decided to search for the missing Rockruff. At least, that was what Coral decided. Lucina was a bit hesitant still to find her Pokemon and reconcile with her, so Coral left on her own.

' _Why am I the one searching for her again?_ ' she asked herself for a number of times. Coral knew her reason to, but it still didn't feel right for her to search for Roxy with she was Lucina's Pokemon.

"Pidgooo!" Coral stopped in her tracks as she saw a Pidgey coming her way, a note wrapped around its left leg. The Tiny Bird Pokemon landed on a branch near her. Coral untied the note and read it. To sum it all up, the Shepherds were all up, some with heavy hangovers, especially the soon-to-be newlyweds. The male of the said duo wondered where she was, as did everyone else. Though Emmeryn told them where she was, they wanted to make sure if she was okay. That and her fellow ninjas wanted to introduce them to airmail, should they need to send a message to Regna Ferox and other cities. Oh, and they also announced the wedding date to Coral, in case if she'll be gone for a while.

Coral took out a blank piece of paper from her pocket and wrote down a response to the message, about how she was with Marth and will be helping her in finding Roxy for a bit. Depending on how far the Puppy Pokemon ran from where Lucina last saw her, it may take days to find her. But, Coral was sure she will still make it in time for the wedding.

As soon as she was done writing her message, she tied it around the Pidgey's leg and the bird Pokemon flew back to Ylisstol.

"This search would've been faster if I had my Pokemon," she muttered to herself. Unfortunately for her, when she was cleaning up the mess back in Ylisstol, she let out her whole team to clean the city faster and by the time she left, she didn't call even one of her Pokemon over as back up. Thankfully, she still had her sword and ninja weapons.

As she was about to continue her search, an arrow was suddenly embedded on the trunk beside her. Looking over to the source, she saw a group of banditsrunning over to her.

"Oh come on," she groaned, leaping down to ground level. She took out her sword and charged at the group with the intent to kill. That is, until she got close enough and saw that they had a couple of weakened Pokemon tied up and held hostages. "What?!"

One of the bandits, no doubt the leader, smirked and laughed at the predicament. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? One of those new Shepherds, no doubt. What's the matter? Not gonna take us in? Of course not. Not if you want to risk these creatures' lives."

"You cowards!"

Almost instantly, one of the bandits held a knife on a Rattata's neck. "Watch what you say. You wouldn't want anything to happen to these little guys, do you? Small as they are, after rumors about these Magical Creatures, they could go for hundreds. Not much worth when dead, but there are plenty to go around in these woods!" The rest of the bandits laughed along with their leader. Coral just gritted her teeth at how little they think of the Pokemon's lives. "Now, you on the other hand... You Shepherds care a lot for these animals. So how about you drop your weapon, get on your knees, and put your hands on your head." Coral clenched her fist around her Sword of Kusanagi, wanting to kill these bastards so bad. "Now!"

* * *

With Lucina, after some time for herself, thinking about what Coral had said to her, the time traveler ran through the woods, looking for the Puppy Pokemon. She knew Coral was right, that she had to reconcile with her partner and be a better person for Roxy.

"Now!" she faintly heard. Lucina ceased her search and turned to the source.

"What?" she gasped, rushing over to the scene.

When she arrived, she saw, to her shock, Coral, on her knees with all her weapons around her, hands behind her head. Just as she was about to wonder why the ninja was heavily disarmed, she saw a group of bandits approaching her, as well as some wild Pokemon tied up, with one of the thugs holding a knife on a rat-like Pokemon's throat. It didn't take her long to know what was going on.

' _I have to help them!_ ' she thought. She quickly and quietly snuck over to the back of the bandit group, where the Pokemon were. While the humans were oblivious to Lucina, the Pokemon all heard her approach and turned. The moment their eyes were on her, Lucina placed a finger on her lip, gesturing them to be silent. If it were any normal animal, they would probably give her away. Pokemon, on the other hand, were intelligent creatures and knew that they should keep silent.

Coral glared at the men approaching her. As she glared at each of them, she noticed Lucina sneaking up on them from the very back. As soon as she saw her, Coral calmed down a little and looked at the ground, specifically her weapons.

"Tie her up, boys. We'll make a ransom out of her too," the leading bandit said.

"No you won't," Lucina said, running her sword through the bandit holding the Rattata, freeing the Mouse Pokemon from his grasp.

"What?!" the leader gasped.

Instantly, Coral took a nearby kunai knife and killed a couple of bandits closest to her.

"Don't just stand there! Kill them!" At the leader's orders, the other bandits fought back.

Due to the disadvantage in numbers and the fact that the girls had to protect the Pokemon, Lucina and Coral were having a hard time against these bandits, especially when there were some that can use bow and arrows, making it even harder for the two to fight as they had to either avoid or deflect the arrows. However, to Coral, right now they weren't fighting to win; they were fighting to free the captive Pokemon.

Jumping over to Lucina's side, she muttered to the princess, "I'll distract them. Grab the Pokemon and run."

"Are you crazy?!" she whispered back. "You can't-!"

"Just do it!" Leaving no room for further conversation, Lucina sheathed her sword and grabbed the captive Pokemon.

"Hey! That girl is getting away with our stuff!" one of the bandits said, increasing Coral's anger even further.

"Pokemon are not property!" The kunoichi took out a smoke bomb from her pocket. Just as she was about to throw it down, something came in between the girls and the bandits.

It was a wolf-like creature with light brown and white fur and blue eyes. Its tail is long, white and fluffy, its white feet each had three dark brown claws, and its bushy white mane had four sharp, dark brown rocks poking out of it.

One look and Lucina couldn't help but think that the Pokemon seemed quite familiar to her. ' _That Pokemon!_ '

"A Lycanroc..." Coral muttered and identified.

"You again! Mangy magical beast!" the leading bandit shouted. "Not even in Shilla Village and you still want to fight us?!"

"B-Boss Dart! We best not aggravate it!" one of his minions advised.

"Nonsense! If it's a fight that beast wants, it's a fight it'll get!" The leader, Dart, took out a sword and charged at the newcomer Pokemon.

Lycanroc glowed in a white aura and slammed into the guy, pushing him back. Dart didn't back down and came back for another strike. Lycanroc this time released a wave of multi-colored aura from its body as white orbs of light appeared before it. Rocks formed inside them and were fired at Dart. He blocked some, but the rest made their mark, embedding themselves in his right arm and leg.

"Boss!" the rest of his men cried out in worry. A couple of archers dared to take aim and fired at the Wolf Pokemon. Lycanroc glowed a white aura once more and moved away from its spot at high speed. The next thing they knew, they were knocked back by an incredible force. Standing right where they were was the Lycanroc, glaring down at the rest of the bandits.

"Boss! We can't win this today! Besides, we're almost done with it," one of the remaining bandits said to Dart.

Knowing that the guy was right, Dart gritted his teeth and gave an order of retreat. "Retreat! We'll come back for our prize! Soon enough." The rest of his men agreed to the command and ran away from the scene, leaving Coral, Lucina and the Pokemon behind.

As soon as the men left, the wolf-like Pokemon turned to the remaining humans, growling at them. Lucina froze at the suspicious, angry look in its eyes and the sound it was making.

"Whatever you do, put the Pokemon down," Coral whispered to the future princess.

She obliged to her words and slowly and gently placed the tied Pokemon down. The wolf-like Pokemon kept its eyes on her, watching for any sort of sudden movement.

"Untie them," the ninja continued to advise.

The blue-haired girl undid the binds around each Pokemon, releasing them to their freedom. When they were out of sight, the wolf one jumped on Lucina and pinned her down, growling and snarling at her face. Lucina only looked at the beast in fear, not daring to even reach for her Falchion. After that, the Pokemon got off her and left.

"I don't speak Pokemon, but I know a warning when I see one," Coral said, helping her up. Collecting and putting away her weapons, she added, "We best make camp for tonight. In the morning, I'll head back to Ylisstol to get some of my Pokemon. You find those bandits' hideout. We have to take them out before they capture any Pokemon in these woods."

Just as she was about to head to her destination, Lucina asked, "How do Pokemon grow?" The question caused her to stop in her track. "Do they grow like normal animals? Or do they just... transform like that Mega Evolution thing father's Pokemon undergo?"

Knowing that the princess wouldn't let the subject go unless if she answered it, Coral said, "There are ways for a Pokemon to undergo an evolution. They evolve from being exposed to special stones or items, exposed to a certain environment, gained enough happiness depending on the time of day, or when they get strong enough to evolve."

"Then that Pokemon just now... is that what Roxy evolves into?"

"That's right. But-" Before Coral could say anything more, Lucina ran in the direction the wolf Pokemon went. "Hey, wait!"

Lucina ran across the woods, jumping over shrubs and bushes to catch up to the Pokemon. ' _That Pokemon... It has to be!_ '

"Roxy!" she called, as soon as her suppose-partner was within her sight. Instead of slowing down or turning around, the Pokemon kept running off to who-knows-where. "Roxy! It's me! Please wait!"

The Pokemon looked back at last... with what seemed like an annoyed look on its face. One look at that face and Lucina stopped chasing after it, letting the Pokemon venture off deeper into the woods.

Coral finally caught up to the princess. "Lucina! What's going on?! Why did you just run off like that?" she asked.

"She hates me..." she muttered, increasing the ninja's confusion. "After all this time, all because of one mistake, she hates me. I shouldn't have left her alone. Roxy will never come back for me... all because I kicked her and told her to stay away." Turning to Coral, teary-eyed and voice starting to hoarse, she asked her, "I want to be her friend and partner again. What am I going to do?"

"You don't know if that Lycanroc really is her."

"I don't?!" Lucina took out Roxy's neckerchief from her pocket. "This neckerchief was a symbol of our friendship! You said it yourself that Roxy is able to undergo evolution, and that wolf is the exact Pokemon she can evolve into! I practically called her weak and told her to leave me because of that! How can that Lyncaroc not be her?!"

"Two things. Firstly: it's Lycanroc. Secondly, though Lycanroc is the Pokemon that is evolved from Rockruff, there are two versions of it. The one we saw is the Midday Form. There's another form called the Midnight Form, which is practically a red werewolf. For all we know, Roxy could have evolved at night and that Lycanroc we saw was only a wild Pokemon."

"I think I know my friend when I see her!"

"And you're right, you should know Roxy. Did that Lycanroc really act like the Roxy you know?" That question caught Lucina off guard. "If that really was Roxy, even if you said and did all those things to her, I'm willing to bet that she would've come back to you the second she saw how bad you felt for that. Rockruff are said to stay loyal to their trainers. Midday Lycanroc are said to be trustworthy partners that will never betray their trainers. If that Lycanroc really was Roxy, she wouldn't have left you the way you did to her, nor would she get hostile the way that Lycanroc did to you."

After hearing those things about Roxy's kind, Lucina was now conflicted about the situation at hand. On one hand, she was happy to hear that Coral believes her partner Pokemon would want to return to her, but on the other hand, after what she had done to the Rockruff the last time they met, how can she be so sure that Roxy really does want to return to her?

"Look, it's getting late and we're too deep in these woods. Of what I can see, neither of us are in a condition to do anything else. Let's just find some food, wood and water, if possible, and make camp here," Coral then said. Lucina nodded in agreement to the idea and went to find some firewood.

Later that night, after getting some food in them, the two girls rested. As they slept, Lucina was having quite an odd dream.

* * *

 _ ***LUCINA'S DREAM***_

She was dreaming of her childhood, back when Chrom was alive. Young Lucina was practicing her swordsmanship with her father using a wooden sword, all while pretending to be the legendary hero, Marth, and her father pretending to be Grima. As the father tripped on some root, the princess took the chance to knock him down.

"Your days are numbered, fell dragon!" Young Lucina declared. "You're cornered and unarmed! On my trusty sword, Falchion, and my name, Marth, I shall slay-!" As she raised her wooden sword, it slipped out of her fingers and fell on her head. "Ow!"

Chrom couldn't help but laugh at the unfortunate sight. Doing so however, adding to the pain on her head, saddened his daughter. "Now, now, Lucina. Don't cry," he comforted.

"B-But... How else can I be like Marth? Or like you?" she asked. "If I can't even wield a-"

"Don't worry. Do you want to learn how?" Chrom took out his Falchion. "This is Falchion. A sword that has been passed down in our Ylissean family since ancient times."

Young Lucina couldn't help but be amazed at the mere sight of the sword.

Chrom knelt down to her level and handed her the blade. "Here. You try to hold it."

"Okay!" Young Lucina gripped the legendary sword as tight as possible.

"Got a good grip on it, Lucina?"

"I think so."

"Good. I'm letting go now." The moment Chrom released his grip, Falchion's weight was too much for his daughter and hit the ground.

"Wow. It's really heavy," she stated.

"It is. The weight of the sword should never be taken lightly," Chrom told her. "The sword carries your weight, your opponent's, and the people around you, whom you choose to protect or end. The weight is even greater when you wield Falchion, a sword blessed by the divine dragon, Naga. This sword carries a weight far greater for one person to handle."

"But, that's why the person who wields it has people to support him," came another voice. The two turned and saw Emmeryn approaching them, along with Gladiknight. "The Hero, King Marth, was exiled from his kingdom and fought to free it from Grima. However, he is human like you, me and your father. It wasn't easy to reclaim his home. But, during his journey, he gained allies, friends, people who helped him, guided him, and followed him. Marth fought for his people, whom in turn helped carried the weight for him."

"Emmeryn, I was going to tell her all of that," Chrom slightly complained.

The exalt giggled at the complaint. "Sorry, Chrom. But you can at least tell her about how the symbol in her eye inherits Naga's will and blessings."

"You just told her that!" Gladiknight held back a laugh at his brother's misfortune, in which Chrom caught. "Even my own partner is laughing at me. Oh, the pain."

The sarcasm adding to the drama as Chrom was expressing his pain was unbearable for the Gallade as he let out a hearty laugh. Young Lucina joined in on the laughter.

"Even my own daughter is laughing," Chrom added.

"Galla la," Gladiknight simply spoke in his language, patting the guy on the back.

As she watched them, Young Lucina couldn't help but ask one question that had been on her mind. "Hey. Do you think I can find a partner like Gladiknight?"

The two adults and Pokemon looked down at the child as she asked that. "I mean, father has a Pokemon, mother has a Pokemon, even Auntie Emmeryn and Lissa have a Pokemon. Do you think I, Morgan, Owain, and all our friends will have one someday?"

Chrom and Gladiknight looked at each other in thought at her question. They then smiled and looked back at the princess.

"Lucina. You have it all wrong," the father said, to her confusion. "You don't just get or choose a Pokemon. They choose you. When Gladiknight and I met, we were fighting off against some monsters. Same with your mother and her Pokemon. As we fought, we were unbeatable. But, that didn't mean anything, if both sides aren't willing to join forces, if both sides don't have a strong bond. You can choose any Pokemon in the world, but unless if you have a bond, even the strongest Pokemon you partner up with will easily fall in the hands of your enemies. That's what a friend of our's said once."

Young Lucina took in his words. If it were any other child, they wouldn't understand what Chrom meant, but Lucina saw how bonds worked. For her father, her mother, her family, everyone. She saw how strong their bonds were against people who forced Pokemon to just fight for them and knew what he meant.

Emmeryn patted the young princess on the head. "There's still time for your Pokemon to come. There's always time. We weren't born with partners; we found them, just as they found us."

Young Lucina happily nodded in agreement. "Okay!"

* * *

Time later, Lucina was fighting against many Risen. The number was too great for her to take on alone, even with the help of her soldiers. ' _Why?_ ' she wondered, cutting down one of these monsters. ' _Why are there so many Risen? They should've never even made it to the castle!_ '

As she was about to face off another Risen, an explosion occurred nearby, forcing her and her soldiers back.

"Grr! That explosion... What was that?" Lucina questioned. "For both the walls and the ceiling to be blasted away...?" She looked outside and gasped at the sight. "It's so... dark outside... There's still time before it's night and yet... yet..."

"So ends the human race," she heard, causing her to stand back up and get into fighting position. "The future is built upon the past... but your kind shall never see it!" Lucina turned and saw _him_. The monster that started it all.

Grima.

"Your mother and father... are dead, tiny one," he said. Lucina tensed and prepared herself for the hardest battle of her life. Grima simply laughed at her futile effort to seem strong. "And now it is your turn... to DIE!" Lucina let out a battle cry as the monster dove his head to gobble her up whole... until a pair of figures came and struck him hard. "ARGH! What?!"

Lucina's eyes widened as the two landed before her, protecting her from the dragon. "Gladiknight! Sparky!"

"Lucina!" cried out another voice. She turned her head and saw a familiar wyvern flying towards her. "We're coming!" the rider called.

The princess looked back and saw the Fell Dragon looking her friend's way. "No... Stay back!" she cried out.

"A rescue? How futile!" Grima opened his mouth to swallow the wyvern and its rider whole, when Sparky fired a strong Thunderbolt at his eye. "Gah! Little rat!" As Grima charged up a breath attack, Gladiknight acted fast and tossed the princess up to her friend, who caught her hand.

"Gladiknight?!" she gasped. The next thing she knew, Grima breathed out his dark flames at the Gallade and Pikachu, instantly sending them into oblivion. Lucina's eyes widened at the sight, to see what was left of her parents die before her. "No... NOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

 _ ***REALITY***_

"NO!" Lucina shot up from her sleep, sweating from the nightmare.

' _Wha- What was that?!_ ' she wondered. ' _That... that didn't happen. That didn't feel like a dream; why did it feel like a memory?! Those two were never there!_ '

"You okay?" came Coral's voice, snapping the princess out of her shock.

"Y-Yeah..." Becoming fully aware of her surroundings, Lucina saw that it was morning.

"Good. Now we better prepare ourselves for today. We still have to find those bandits," Coral told her, putting on her ninja mask.

Unknown to the princess, when she woke up from her nightmare, so did the ninja, whom dreamt of her dead village and everyone in it, with the person responsible standing in the middle of it. Coral was about to attack him at the time, when a huge dragon emerged from the ground and charged up a powerful breath attack. Coral tried to run in her nightmare, but couldn't move. It was when the dragon fired that she woke up.

' _What was that dream?_ ' the ninja wondered. ' _I don't remember that dragon anywhere._ ' Shaking her head, Coral got herself back to the mission at hand.

"We're going after that Lycanroc," she said, much to Lucina's confusion. "We get to that Lycanroc, we get to those bandits. And if we earn its trust, we can take them all down in no time flat. From what one of them said, we may find it in Shilla Village."

"W-Wait, I thought the plan was I look for them while you get your Pokemon," the future princess said.

"Took some time to think about it last night. If I go back, I'll only be wasting time and most likely leave you to attack them yourself. And I doubt that Lycanroc will be happy to assist you again. Plus, you want to see for yourself if that Pokemon really is Roxy. How can you fight so well if your mind is distracted? Best that we stick together. Now come on. According to these tracks, Lycanroc went this way." Coral walked to the direction the Midday Wolf Pokemon went.

As she walked, Lucina smiled, happy to get the chance to see the Lycanroc, who may actually be Roxy.

* * *

The two arrived at a seemingly peaceful village, no doubt Shilla Village.

"This must be the place," Coral said, walking in. After she took a few steps in, the ninja noticed her companion not walking alongside her. "Still worried if that Lycanroc is Roxy?"

"And that she doesn't forgive me," the future girl confirmed.

"You'll never know until you find out for yourself about this one. Now come on, while we still have time." Lucina nodded to the kunoichi's words and followed her in the village.

In the village, they saw that things were peaceful as can be. Farmers were harvesting their crops, a bit of trade was going on in each houses, kids were playing outside, absolutely nothing but peace.

One child took notice of the two girls. "Bandits! Bandits!" he cried out.

"Wait, what?" they asked in shock.

The next thing they knew, the kids all ran to their parents. The men all equipped themselves with farming equipment as weapons and stood before them, ready to fight and protect their family.

"I'm just going to take a guess and say that the bandits come here quite often," Coral muttered.

Lucina took a step forward. "Look, this must be some mistake! We're not bandits!"

"Like we can trust your lies!" one of the villagers said.

"Just wait 'til our guardian shows up! You'll regret setting foot here!" another exclaimed.

"'Guardian'? Who?" Coral asked.

Instead of an answer, a growl was heard. The men cleared a path and approaching them was the Midday Lycanroc. Lucina was about to rush over to it, but stopped herself, reminding herself that the Lycanroc may not be Roxy. Upon realizing who they are, the Wolf Pokemon turned to the guys and barked. As if understanding what it was saying, the men looked at each other in confusion and worry, but obliged to its command.

"I see. So you're the guardian of this village," Coral said. "Am I right to assume that it's because of the bandits in the area?" The Lycanroc nodded at her question. "Then this makes things easier. Let us help you get rid of them." The villagers all gasped and whispered questions and concerns at her words. "From what I gathered of yesterday, those bandits will not stop until they get their hands on you, one way or another."

"And how do we know if this isn't a trick?!" one of the villagers demanded. "For all we know, you might be spies!"

"Why don't you ask your guardian then? We met yesterday after all. The Lycanroc saw us help the Magical Creatures the bandits took."

The villagers all looked at the Wolf Pokemon, wondering what its judgement is. The Midday Lycanroc walked closer to them and held out a paw.

"Then we're in agreement," Coral said, accepting the paw in a handshake. "Now, from my experience, if that bandit that knew about you is still alive, their leader will want to extract as many information he knew about you as possible, and will need time to come up with a perfect plan to capture you. We need someone who can extract that information from the inside. To do that, I need to get to a large body of water, preferably a lake."

"Why there?" a little girl asked.

"There are plenty of wild Magical Creatures in the woods and they need a spot to drink. If we're lucky, there should be at least one Magical Creature that can be perfect for this recon mission. Assuming you all don't believe or trust me, despite Lycanroc's judgement, I will only allow a few of you to lead me there and keep an eye on me. My companion, Marth, will remain in this village with your guardian. We can't leave this place unprotected. I'll even leave my weapons here, if it means getting your cooperation."

No one believed what they were hearing, not even Lucina. To think that Coral would go this far to show that she was a friend and not an enemy. It made her wonder even more what her life was like before meeting her father, to think as fast as her mother.

After debating on who should go with the ninja girl, three particularly strong men led the girl to a nearby lake, leaving Lucina behind with her weapons. The future princess watched as Lycanroc also took its leave, following the farmers to the crops.

"We'll take you to our inn," said a female villager, referring to herself, a man, and a little girl. "My name is Molly."

"I'm Davis, her husband," the guy introduced. "And this is our daughter, Risette."

"Hi!" the child greeted.

"Pleased to meet you," Lucina greeted back, picking up all of Coral's weapons.

"I'll help out!" Lisa went on ahead and helped Lucina collect some of the smaller weapons.

"Thanks again. As my companion, Coral, said, my name is Marth."

* * *

With Coral, as she was being led by the men to the lake, she couldn't help but notice how every once in a while, each guy would keep his eyes on her, watching her every movement. When she looked back at one of the said man, he would instantly look away. The routine was starting to annoy her a bit.

"I know I said you guys can keep your eyes on me, but I didn't mean it literally," she spoke up.

"Like you said, we still don't trust you," one of them said. "For all we know, you could be leading us to a trap."

"If the bandits are at the lake, why would I ever lead you to them?" The moment Coral asked that, an assumption came to her head as she instantly said, "On second thought, don't answer that," just as they were about to answer the question. "Better question: If they are at the lake, why aren't they attacking the village right now? They must have plenty of time, and one of them seemed scared of being here, while their leader had no knowledge about your home. For all I know, until that Dart guy knows where Shilla Village is, I'd say you're fine. Besides, last I saw them, they were going the opposite direction to the village and the lake you're leading me to. But don't take my word for it; I'm just saying what I saw."

The guys just kept quiet and continued to walk to their destination.

Once they arrived, they saw quite a few Pokemon were already there to get a drink.

"Well what do you know? You weren't lying about the Pokemon being here," one of her guides said.

"Yes. But none of the ones here can help us with the recon," Coral told them.

"Oh is that so? Then what are we going to do? Just wait?" another one of her guides asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. At least I will." The three men looked at her as though she grew an extra head. "You guys are free to return to the village. The next step is quite delicate and requires much needed patience."

Taking that as an insult, the three guys sat on the ground and waited alongside her.

* * *

Back in Shilla Village, after she got settled in a double bedroom, Lucina wandered around, searching for the Lycanroc. She would ask around, but decided against it to prevent questions. As Coral had told her, she didn't know if the Wolf Pokemon really was Roxy. And she had to know; she had to know if that Lycanroc was really her Roxy.

The time traveler finally managed to find the evolved Pokemon, playing with Risette and a few other kids. The innkeepers' daughter was riding on top of Lycanroc. Lucina saw that the Midday Wolf Pokemon seemed happy to play with the kids. Watching it, along with the thought of it being Roxy, brought pain to her heart.

Steeling herself and preparing for the worst that could happen, she continued onwards to the small group. "Hi there," she greeted.

The kids and Lycanroc all brought their attention to her. While the majority were either frightened or unsure about her still, Risette greeted back. "Hi, Marth!"

"What are you kids doing?" she asked.

"Bull Riding!" Noticing the confused look on Lucina's face, Risette explained, "It's where we have to hang on to the bull, which is Shiera here, while she shakes us off as hard as she could!"

"Isn't that dangerous for kids your age?"

"Not really. Besides, it's good practice for when we help our parents hunt when we grow up."

"I see... And you said this Lycanroc's name is Shiera?"

"Yeah! Don't you think she's pretty?" Risette scratched one of Sheira's rocks as she asked that. "Oh! And fun fact: Shiera likes it when we scratch the spiky rocks on her mane!"

"It hurts when she rubs them against us though," one of her friends added.

Lucina slightly winced at the information. Gender was one thing, but to hear that this Lycanroc likes her rocks to be rubbed or scratched really reminded her of Roxy, who would always rubbed the rocks on her neck against her cheeks.

"And uh... how long has Shiera been living here?"

"She's been with us since the day we found her in the rain," Risette answered again.

' _Even the time is the same..._ ' Lucina thought. ' _This Lycanroc... She has to be._ '

The moment the princess tried to look at the Midday Wolf Pokemon in the eyes, the Rock-type looked away and walked towards a farmer. Risette got off and assisted in helping the guy place bags of potatoes in a wheelbarrow, with her friends helping out as well.

To many, Shiera noticed the farmer in need of some assistance in stocking up the potatoes, but to Lucina, it was more like the Midday Wolf Pokemon was trying to avoid her, something that hurt her even more than before.

* * *

Going back to Coral's group, the sun was starting to set and the three guys may have fallen asleep on their job. A leaf made its way to one man's nose. With a few flicks and tickles, the guy let out a loud sneeze that woke them all up. The three looked up and saw an unamused Coral, holding a blue plant bulb with green leaves sprouting out the top, as well as feet and a face.

"So what happened to keeping your eyes on me?" she asked.

The three glared at her and tried to get up... only to find themselves unable to do so. Looking down, they saw they were all tied up.

"What are you doing?" the strongest-looking of the three asked.

Coral held up a blade at his face. "That'd be my question. Did you really think you just fell asleep? What was the last thing you all remember?"

The three men thought back to what happened before they somehow fell asleep. After they got their minds together, they recalled what had happened.

* * *

 _ ***FLASHBACK***_

A couple hours earlier, the group had been hiding behind some trees and bushes, waiting for the right Pokemon to arrive.

"This is nothing but a waste of time," one of them muttered.

"Don't say that. Besides, it'll be good for us," another whispered.

"Yeah. It'll especially make our boss really happy," the last of them said.

As they converse, Coral was listening in on their conversation. She saw something approaching the lake from the shrubs and saw just the Pokemon she was hoping for. "That's the one," she told them.

As if on cue, two of the three instantly jumped out of their hiding spots and tried to snatch up the Pokemon. Not just it, but all other Pokemon that were by the lake.

The biggest of the trio tried to get a jump on Coral, who slipped away from him and karate chopped him from behind, knocking him out.

The other two had the target Pokemon surrounded and was about to take it with the other wild Pokemon. Out of fear and shock, the blue and green Pokemon released blue sparkling powder from its leaves. The two men breathed into it and were instantly knocked into dreamland.

* * *

 _ ***END OF FLASHBACK***_

"You should know better than to sneak up on a ninja like that," Coral said. "Oh wait, that's right. You know nothing about my kind of people. Now, I wasn't lying when I said Oddish could help me gather information on what you bandits are planning. However, I honestly didn't think that there were spies, traitors in the village." She put down the Grass-type, who stayed by her side. "So, instead of sending this little guy over to them, how about you tell me what your leader is planning right now?"

"Like we'll ever talk," one of the three answered.

"Somehow had a feeling you'd say that." To the Oddish, she then said, "Powder him."

"Oddish," it nodded. The next thing it knew, it released purple sparkling powder from its leaves at the one who answered Coral's question. One breath and he started to look sickly.

"Hey, what's wrong?!" one of his friends gasped.

"Surely you know how poison works," Coral said. "If not treated, he will die."

"You do realize, that if he dies, so do you and your friend back in Shilla!"

"True, but last I check, the Lycanroc is with them, and it knows, from my actions yesterday, that I am an ally. Besides, we have a witness here. Wild Pokemon are just as intelligent as civilians, so when we get back, this Oddish here will inform Shilla's guardian what happened here. Isn't that right?"

Knowing the question was directed at itself, Oddish nodded in agreement and confirmation, "Oddish."

"So now, if you want the antidote, you better answer my questions. Of course, there's another way of making you three cooperate, but I'd rather not scar this little Weed Pokemon's life here." The remaining two guys paled at her words. "So while we're cooperating with each other, what did your leader mean when he said you'll be getting the Lycanroc?"

* * *

Back to the village, Lucina was standing outside the inn, still watching Shiera playing with the kids or helping the farmers with the crop. Not once, in the middle of her activities, did the Midday Wolf Pokemon even take a glimpse at the future princess. After the chore was done, Shiera took the kids back to their home. When Lucina saw that Shiera was just dropping off Risette, the last child, to the inn, the older girl raised a brow in confusion.

"Where does Shiera sleep?" she asked the younger girl.

"In my family's inn. She's just going to patrol the area or train before dinner," she answered. "Shiera's so cool! I hope I can be independent like her someday."

"... Yeah. She does sound awesome," Lucina agreed.

' _Can a Pokemon really change that much in so little time? Or is it because she evolved?_ ' she wondered. It was only a few days since she last saw Roxy, and yet the Lycanroc was acting different from her Rockruff self. Lucina was considering on following the Wolf Pokemon, but the annoyed look she sent yesterday, as well as the pin-down and the snarling, came to her mind. She was already on thin ice with the Midday Wolf Pokemon... and all she wanted to do was make up for her mistakes.

"Marth! Marth!" came a shout. Lucina turned and saw Coral rushing over to her. "Where's the Lycanroc?!"

"Shiera? She just left the village," she answered in confusion.

"This is bad," Coral muttered. "We have to follow her. Now!" Rushing into the inn, the ninja quickly snatched their trusty swords and ran out, grabbing Lucina as they ran out of the village, ignoring the innkeepers' cries.

* * *

"W-Wait! What's going on?!" Lucina asked, as Coral dragged her somewhere in the woods.

"There were spies in the village!" the ninja answered, to the princess's shock. "The three who led me to the lake were bandits in disguise! Traitors to their people! Left there to analyze the Lycanroc and send information to the rest of their group, to devise the perfect plan to capture her!"

"What?! Then Roxy's in trouble?! We have to help her!"

"Even if she isn't Roxy?"

"Just because she's not the same as when she was a puppy doesn't mean-"

Before Lucina could finish her sentence, Coral skidded to a stop and slapped her hard. "Wake up! Did the conversation we had earlier about the possibility of that Lycanroc being a whole other Pokemon magically left your head?! No one can devise a perfect trap that requires days, even weeks of analyzing an unknown target! That Lycanroc is NOT Roxy!" Slowly, but surely, Coral's words were getting into Lucina's head.

"T-Then... where's Roxy?" she asked.

"I don't know. What I do know is that we have a Pokemon that's heading straight to a trap. And if you're not going to help me, that's fine. I'll help her alone." With that, Coral left the future girl alone.

As the ninja continued on to the Midday Lycanroc, Lucina was in thought with what she said. The Lycanroc wasn't Roxy? Then what was with the distance she put between them? Why was she so cold to her? Was it because she had Roxy's scene? Did she sense some sort of guilt on her? Was she there when Lucina...?

' _No,_ ' she thought. ' _Now is not the time to think about that. I have to help them!_ ' Now filled with determination, Lucina followed after her ninja ally.

* * *

With Shiera, she arrived at a clearing, by the mountains, away from the village. There were boulders of all size lying around, some with cracks or seemed to have been broken to pieces.

The Wolf Pokemon stood in the center and looked around, sensing something... someone nearby.

Her senses weren't wrong, for a tranquilizer dart was shot out of the bushes. Shiera jumped back to avoid the object. Next thing she knew, arrows were shot out from the trees. Shiera jumped back to avoid them all and retaliated with a wave of Rock Throw at the hidden archers. The attack made its mark and the assailants fell from their hiding place. But it didn't stop there.

More darts were shot out of the bushes, causing Shiera to move around. The Lycanroc charged past the remaining darts with an Accelerock, attacking the people firing them. When she jumped into the bushes, however, there were no men, and the ground below her suddenly shot up, trapping her in a net. Before she could bite the rope to free herself, she was hit by a few powerful, electrical shocks.

"Hahah! We finally got him!" came a voice too familiar to her. She narrowly opened her eyes and saw Dart approaching her, along with his group of bandits, armed with tomes, arrows, or swords. "Finally, after all this time, we got you."

Shiera growled at him, not believing that he would sacrifice his men just to capture her, as well as swearing that she will escape and give him hell.

"Don't worry, little fella. You'll find a nice home, I'm sure. While the rest of my boys and I will bathe in the riches we get off of ya!" At his claim, the rest of his group cheered, eager to make much money off of her.

Not willing to let them do as they please, Shiera tried to bite the rope again. One of the mage bandit noticed this and sent another shock at her, ceasing her attempt.

"Nice try, but this time, we're prepared for your little escape," Dart said. "A few Elthunder won't kill you, but they will at least stop you from moving for a while. You're not going anywhere this time, dog. Chain him up, boys! Wealth calls for us!"

"Think again!" came a female voice. Jumping out of the woods was Coral, who unsheathed Sword of Kusanagi and started to cut and kill some fighter bandits.

"What?!" Dart gasped.

Without missing a beat, Coral took a hand axe from a fallen fighter and tossed over at Shiera, freeing her from the net. The moment she was freed, Coral leapt by her side.

"And by the way, this Lycanroc is a 'she'," the ninja added.

Dart gritted his teeth, not believing that the Magical Creature they worked so hard to capture was free. His annoyed look turned into a smirk, when he noticed that the Wolf Pokemon was quite weakened from the multiple Elthunder magic. "And pray tell, how are you going to fight all of us, while protecting that wolf? The beast doesn't look like it can fight."

"Well, I can at least stall, can't I?" Coral got into battle stance, prepared to fight against the large group.

A mage struck first, firing an Elthunder at her. Coral rushed into the bolt and got hit. Witnessing the reckless move made the bandits all laugh.

"Oh yeah! You'll stall us alright!" Dart said, wiping a tear from his eye. When he and his men all looked again at the ninja, to their shock, they saw a log in her place instead. Before they knew it, they heard a gurgling sound and faced to see Coral slit a ruffian's throat.

"You underestimate me. Not good," she calmly said, going to kill another ruffian.

"Distract her while I get our prize!" As soon as Dart gave that order, he made his way to Shiera, who was just starting to recover from the lightning magic.

Coral noticed this and tried to get to them, but was blocked by many of Dart's men. "Out of my way!" She went for the kill on each of them, but they mostly blocked her strikes.

Shiera got up on her wobbled legs and saw the leader bandit standing before her, his axe raised to knock her out. Luckily for the Lycanroc, Lucina arrived just in time and knocked the weapon out of his hands.

"Again?!" he shouted in frustration.

"About time you arrived!" Coral called, cutting down a ruffian.

"At least I'm here now!" Lucina said, standing between Dart and Shiera. "You want even a fur from this Pokemon, you have to go through me!" she told him.

Glaring so hard that veins could be seen on his forehead, Dart took out another axe. "You two girls have been thorns on my side for far too long! Even more so than that mutt! I'll kill ya both!" He went to attack the blue-haired swordswoman.

Lucina met his heavy strikes with her Falchion. But due to their figures, the future princess was getting overpowered by her opponent. She tried a different approach and slipped past his attacks instead, but Dart, as though predicted the dodge, smacked the girl away with the back of his hand, forcing her to release her grip on Falchion.

Getting a better look at the sword, Dart widened his eyes at the sight of it. "Wait a second... Isn't that sword...?!" The shock turned into a smirk and a laugh. "Ha ha ha ha! Luck is on my side! Not only do we get the mangy wolf, we also get a sword from the exalt's family!" Everyone gasped at those words.

' _How does he know about Falchion?!_ ' Coral thought.

"No... I won't let you...!" Lucina exclaimed, dazed by the hit as she crawled to her heirloom.

Dart stepped on her hand to stop her attempt. "Thanks for the delivery. How a girl like you have the blade, I'll never know. But it will definitely cost lot more. But first, let's get rid of you!" He raised his axe high in the air to behead the girl.

"Lucina!" Coral cried out, blocked by the other fighters as she tried to get to her comrade.

The downed princess could only watch as the blade was brought down, thinking to herself, ' _Is this really how it will end? Without helping my father and mother defeat Grima? Without reconciling with Roxy?! I... I...! ROXY!_ '

Suddenly, something came and bit Dart's arm, hard. "Ahh! What the hell?!" Clinging onto his wielding arm was a Rockruff. A very familiar Rockruff.

The sight of the Puppy Pokemon brought a smile on Lucina's face. "Roxy!"

The pup glanced at the princess for a second before biting Dart's arm even harder.

"Ow! Why you insolent-! Get off of me!" The guy grabbed the pup and tried to remove her from him, only for the Rockruff to bite harder. Dart winced as he felt the bite get stronger. "I said LET GO!" He rammed his arm into a tree, forcing the Rock-type to let out a whine and finally release her grip. As soon as she released her grip, Dart raised his axe once more, this time to kill the Pokemon. "DIE MUTT!"

"Roxy look out!" Lucina cried out.

Shaking off the dizziness, the Rockruff quickly slipped past the guy from under him and bit his behind, causing him to make a high-pitch yelp. "Oh! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" He then started to jump around, trying to shake the growling Roxy off. "GET OFF!" The next they knew, he suddenly slammed his butt down on the ground, injuring the Rockruff and forcing her to let go again.

The future exalt looked on in worry. "Roxy!"

The Puppy Pokemon just lied there, weakened from the slam down. "I don't know whether to be annoyed by you Magical Creatures or want you even more. Especially those with a bunch of spunk," Dart said.

Before he could go for the kill, again, Lucina clashed blades with him and punched him in the face, knocking him down. "You leave my partner alone!" she shouted. The princess then looked down at the puppy lying on her back, whom weakly looked back up at her, who looked back at her. "You are Roxy... right?" The pup just stared at her, dazed by the impact. "If you are Roxy... I just want you to know, in case if either of us die, how sorry I am. C-Can you forgive me?"

The Rockruff just stared at her, almost as though wondering if she really was speaking the truth. Seconds later, slowly, a smile was forming... or was about to, as the Puppy Pokemon saw Dart getting back up and pushed Lucina out of the way of his attack. The pup then fired a Rock Throw at him, in which the leader bandit blocked. He then charged straight at the Rock-type with a crazed look on his face.

"Forget alive. You're dead!" He swung his axe at the small Pokemon, who jumped to avoid it and fired a close-range Rock Throw at him. Unfortunately, Dart was lucky enough to avoid the killing blow and receive only a few cuts on his face.

Landing on her four feet, the Rockruff blew a raspberry at the big, bad bandit and waved her behind at him. This enraged the guy and prompted him to chase after her to the mountain.

"Roxy!" Lucina was about to chase after them, when she heard a cry. Turning to the source, she saw Coral pinned to a tree, with a sword in her right shoulder. "Coral!"

"Go!" the ninja shouted, stopping her in her tracks. "I'll be fine! Do one of two things: help that Lycanroc, or help _your_ Rockruff!"

"But-!"

"Hurry!" It was already too late, for some of the bandits turned their attention to the swordswoman and the downed Lycanroc.

To their surprise, as they were approaching Shiera, the Rock-type suddenly shot back up and struck them all with a good Accelerock in the gut, forcing them away from her and the future princess.

"What the-?!"

"How did it recover that fast?!"

Many bandits and Lucina was in shock at how fast Shiera recovered. Coral glanced over at the spot she once was and noticed an eaten Oran Berry partly hidden in the bush.

' _An Oran Berry. Clever,_ ' she thought, as she proceeded to remove the sword from her arm.

"Lucina! Just go after Roxy!" she then shouted.

The time traveler looked at her way, this time with a look of confusion. "How do you know if that Rockruff really is Roxy?!"

"Because no other Rockruff would jump in to intercept the kill intended for you the way that one did!" Coral successfully and painfully got the sword out. "Remember what I said about how loyal they are to their trainers? No wild Rockruff would do that for a stranger!" Lucina's eyes widened in realization, as she recalled the conversation the night before.

* * *

 _ ***FLASHBACK***_

"You should know Roxy. Did that Lycanroc really act like the Roxy you know? If that really was Roxy, even if you said and did all those things to her, I'm willing to bet that she would've come back to you the second she saw how bad you felt for that. Rockruff are said to stay loyal to their trainers."

* * *

 _ ***END OF FLASHBACK***_

If that was all true, then that Rockruff must be...

"Now GO!" At Coral's last shout, Lucina ran after Dart and Roxy.

' _Roxy... Wait for me!_ ' she thought.

* * *

With the duo in question, Roxy was leading Dart somewhere up the mountain. Clouds were covering the night skies and sounds of thunder were heard. The bandit threw both his axe and a Hand Axe he picked up along the way and blocked the pup's path. Roxy couldn't slip past the two weapons with how close they are to each other and the side of the mountain and without risking falling into the water below. And so, she went with the next best thing; she climbed up the mount from the steep side.

"You're not getting away!" Dart ran as fast as he could to grab the Rockruff, but the Rock-type managed to jump in time to avoid his grip and climbed as fast as she could. As she started to climb, it had started to rain.

* * *

Lucina was running up the same path Roxy and Dart ran on, trying to catch up to the two. Few seconds into the rain and already there was a storm. Lightning struck down before the princess, destroying the path.

"No!" she cried out. But Lucina didn't lose faith, for luckily, she remembered seeing another path up before taking the one she and the other two were on and ran back to it.

* * *

Back to Roxy and her pursuer, the Puppy Pokemon kept going up, in an attempt to tire out the bandit behind her or have him eventually slip and fall into the river below. That is, if she doesn't fall first. Daring to look behind her, she let out a yelp as she saw Dart gaining on her. Looking back up, she noticed a bunch of rocks up ahead. A little push and it would be a nasty landslide, adding the rain and she may risk getting caught in it... one that she was willing to make. With newfound determination, she made her way over to the stack of boulders.

"You're not getting away that easily pup!" Dart shouted, climbing up even faster.

Hearing him catching up made Roxy climb even faster herself. At some point, she accidentally slipped on some loose rock at the edge and almost fell. Dart would've gotten to her, if the said rock didn't hit him on the head. Fortunately for him, it wasn't big enough to knock him off the cliff. Though it did make him angrier. Pushing herself onward, trying not to slip on the wet footing, Roxy finally got to the rocks and quickly started to dislodge it.

* * *

At the same time, Lucina ran up the new path she took and spotted Roxy and Dart across from her. "Roxy!" she cried out in the rain. Seeing that she couldn't take the short way to her, as it was slippery from the rain water, and she had little confidence that she could make it over to Roxy without falling, the princess reluctantly continued upwards, seeing as how the path can lead her above her Pokemon.

' _Please... Please let me make it!_ ' she mentally prayed.

* * *

Roxy tried as hard as she could, but she couldn't dislodge the rocks. Her paw was only pushing the loose stone deeper in the stack and waste more time as Dart was closing in on her. The Puppy Pokemon then realized that she didn't need to use her paws to move the rocks; she could just force it all down with Rock Throw. That in mind, the rocks on her neck glowed and she unleashed her Rock-type move at the pile, forcing it all down. In doing so, however, she was also dragged down in the rockslide.

Dart's eyes widened as he saw the pile rolling down and couldn't do anything to save himself from it, as he fell into the river below.

Lucina's eyes also widened at the sight, in fear as she saw Roxy taken down with them. "No... No! ROXYYYY!"

* * *

Some time later, Lucina was down by the river, the rain subsiding to a drizzle. She frantically searched around the water, hoping to either find Roxy or that she didn't land in the river while it was a rapid by the rain.

"Roxy? Roxy! Roxy, where are you?!" she cried out. "Roxy please! If you can hear me, answer! Roxy!" As she took a couple more steps forward, she noticed the mass of boulders ahead. Worry overtook her as she ran to the lot and started to dig for her Pokemon.

It wasn't easy for her, especially to move the bigger and heavier rocks, but Lucina didn't let that stop her from digging for her friend and partner. Eventually, she heard the faint sound of deep breathing. A smile formed on her face as she dug the rest of the pile away... only for it to fade as quickly as it came, as she saw a near-dead Dart underneath the rocks.

"P-... Please... help..." he pleaded.

Lucina only ignored the dying man and continued to search over the heap of rocks for the Puppy Pokemon. "Roxy? Roxy. Roxy!" She continued to cry out for her partner, only to receive nothing but silence in response. As she searched, Roxy's neckerchief fell out of her pocket and into the water. The future princess noticed that and got to it before it drifted away. The moment she looked at the accessory, memories of her time with the Rockruff flowed into her head, especially one certain memory.

' _In the end... she doesn't forgive me..._ ' she thought, crying for her lost partner.

"I'm sorry, Roxy... I'm so sorry..." And so the swordswoman just kneeled there, crying... for she knew that she will never again see her Pokemon.

She was so sad, the girl could just hear the whimpers. She then felt something rubbing against her. Wait...

Lucina slowly picked up her head from the accessory in her hands and looked down to see-

"Roxy?" A light bark from the Rockruff answered her light gasp. "Roxy!" A smile returning to her face, and Lucina embraced the Puppy Pokemon, who returned the embrace with a soft, yet painful cuddle on her cheek. Painful as it was, the time traveler didn't care; her partner was alive. "I missed you so much. I'm sorry for what I said."

"Ruff," Roxy barked, licking her trainer's cheek, showing that she forgave her.

From a distance, both Coral and Shiera stood, done with all of Dart's men, watching the scene before them.

"I'm glad for her," the ninja muttered. The Midday Lycanroc huffed in agreement.

* * *

Days passed since that day. The bandits were brought to justice and Coral, Lucina and Roxy remained in Shilla Village, recuperating from the battle, especially the ninja and the Puppy Pokemon. Coral's arm was in a sling and was to stay in it for some time. Even with the Vulneraries and Comcoction, it would take a couple of weeks for the bones and tissues to heal. As for the Rockruff, she was pretty banged up herself. Not from the fall, but apparently Shiera found and trained Roxy since Lucina left her and didn't hold back against the pup, leaving scratches and bruises that were bandaged up.

Speaking of the Lycanroc, it turned out, the day she arrived in Shilla Village was a few days since Pokemon started arriving in the world of Ylisse, on a rainy day no less. This compared to what she was told earlier, Lucina couldn't help but feel ashamed to mistake Roxy for the evolved form. Of course, the Puppy Pokemon didn't mind at all, so long as the two were together again.

One afternoon, Lucina was unwrapping her Rockruff's bandages. The other villagers offered to do it themselves, but Lucina would rather do it herself, to be a better trainer and partner for Roxy. Coral couldn't help but compare her to her father when she said that.

"Looks like you're all better," the future princess said to Roxy. As if to prove her right, the Rockruff jumped into her arms and rubbed her neck, causing her. "Hahah! Hey! That hurts!" Lucina exclaimed, but in the end didn't mind the gesture. As soon as Roxy stopped the cuddles, the swordswoman hugged the pup and said, "I'm glad you're back in my life, Roxy."

"Ruff!" the Puppy Pokemon barked in agreement. Roxy then noticed something slipping out of her pocket and took it out. Realizing it was her neckerchief, Roxy got off of Lucina's lap and stood before her with it.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about it," she said. "Well, it's ruined now. Time to throw it away." As she reached out for it, Roxy took a step back, to the future girl's confusion. "Roxy?" The next thing she knew, Roxy ran out with it. "Roxy! Hey!" Lucina chased after her and found the pup hiding behind Coral, arm still in a sling.

"Hello. I see one of us is fully recovered," the ninja said. Roxy just smiled in response.

"Coral. How are you?" Lucina asked.

"Besides my arm, I'm fine," the ninja answered. "I would ask about Roxy, but I can see she's fully recovered."

"Yeah." Turning back to the Puppy Pokemon in question, she saw that the Rock-type still had the neckerchief in her mouth. "Roxy, drop that. I got you a new one." As if to prove that, Lucina took out another neckerchief, this one completely blue. "Now come over here, so I can put this on you." When she approached her partner with the new accessory, Roxy just moved out of the way, to her confusion. "Will you stop that? That one is ruined." The Rockruff didn't relent and kept avoiding her trainer.

Coral also raised a brow in confusion, before realizing what Roxy was implying.

"Roxy, just stop. You can't wear that anymore." Roxy stopped walking, what seemed like an angry look now on her face, confusing Lucina even further. "Roxy?" Before the princess knew it, Roxy dropped her old accessory and suddenly grabbed the new one out of her hands, tearing it apart. "Roxy, stop! What are you doing?!" After tearing it to shreds, Roxy picked up her old neckerchief and gently placed it in Lucina's hands. The Rockruff then lied down and gave her partner a pleading look and a whimper. It didn't take Lucina long to know what Roxy was thinking. Like her, Roxy saw the neckerchief as a symbol of their friendship. And that made her incredibly happy.

Coral chuckled at the sight. "One of my friends can fix it up. We can stop by at Ylisstol before you two go to do... whatever it is you plan to do after that."

Lucina nodded in agreement to that.

"You're leaving now?" came a voice. The two girls and Pokemon turned and saw the villagers and Shiera standing before them. "But we didn't get the chance to really thank you," Risette said.

"Letting us recover here is thanks enough. Besides, we have a wedding to get to," Coral said.

Lucina turned to her in shock. "Wait, that's today?! But we can't make it in time!"

"Where did you think I was the past few days?" Looking at the direction Coral was pointing to, Lucina saw a big, brown avian Pokemon with long neck and beak and broad, powerful-looking wings. "Fearow are said to have tough and excellent stamina, enough to carry heavy loads for a whole day. This guy can take us just in time to... to see your parents wed." The ninja whispered the last part to the future princess, not knowing if it was okay for other people to know at the moment.

"Well, we can't have you go on empty stomachs," Molly said to the two, as she handed them two some sandwiches. "There's also enough for the puppy and your ride."

"Thanks," Lucina thanked, accepting the food. As she approached the Beak Pokemon, she asked Coral, "So, is it like a pegasus? Riding it, I mean."

"Don't know. Never rode one." Seeing the funny look the time traveler was giving her, Coral then said, "I never rode a pegasus. At least not properly." That, the princess then understood. "And don't expect me to do the flying."

"Leave it to me then." The two girls got on its back, Coral at the front and Lucina at the back. Rockruff leapt up and joined them. One small nudge and the Beak Pokemon took it to the skies.

"We'll come back to visit some time!" Coral shouted, waving down at the villagers.

"Bye!" Lucina also waved.

"Rock ruff!" Roxy barked in a farewell.

"Bye-bye!" Risette shouted, as she and everyone else waved back at them.

The Fearow picked up speed and started flying to Ylisstol and its wedding.

* * *

At the same time, in the castle, everyone was getting ready for the big day. Everyone was in their suits or dresses, with the exception of the Pokemon, who only wore bowties or tiaras, and were seated in their seats. Chrom stood on the wedding altar, quite nervous for the event.

"Chrom, calm down," Seth, his best man, told him.

"Easier said than done," the prince said. "Are you sure it's okay that we didn't send Coral some reinforcements?"

"She's not a damsel in distress. Surely you know that. Besides, it's just a search mission."

"I don't mean it like that. I just... Robin and I couldn't help but worry."

"You haven't been seeing the bride, have you? It's bad luck if you did before this day."

"Of course not! That-"

Before Chrom could say any more, music started playing, and doors opened up, prompting him to be silent and watch, as the bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down the walkway in pairs. The flower girl, Kazuki, rushed down the aisle after them, spreading flower petals everywhere with Yasu in tow. After the little girl and her Eevee... _she_ came. Walking down in her glowing white wedding dress, Robin was being led by Gladiknight, as per Chrom's request since Robin didn't have parents. After they reached him, Gladiknight gave the guy a good pat on the shoulder, as if telling him, "Good luck." The Gallade then took an empty seat in the front row.

Libra, who was the wedding officiant, cleared his throat. "Are you two ready?"

"Yes," both Chrom and Robin answered.

"Then let us begin. Dearly beloved-" Before the war monk could continue, the sound of flapping was heard.

"Did someone give those doves the signal?!" Frederick demanded, gritting his teeth.

Kazuto looked out the window and saw something else. "She's just in time."

A certain big bird arrived at the castle.

"Did I miss anything?" Coral asked, getting off the Fearow. She noticed people staring at her, mainly her arm. "It's a long story. One that can wait until after the wedding."

Many people smiled in agreement to that.

"You're just in time," Robin said. "Take a seat."

Chrom noticed one other person with her. "Marth?"

"I hope you don't mind an extra pair of guests," Lucina said.

"Ruff!" Roxy barked.

Chrom chuckled. "Not at all."

As soon as the two girls took their seats, the wedding resumed and soon enough, Chrom and Robin became husband and wife.


	3. The Rust, the Guts, and the Mystery

**I live! Finals are finally over and I can go back to Fanfictioning! Now, before this chapter begins, I like to inform those who don't know yet that... we lost. There weren't enough votes to keep net neutrality alive for us. The FCC... got what they want... Or did they?! A little bird told me that the senate will be making a law to overrule the FCC and save net neutrality! So yes, we were worrying over nothing! Or at least I was. I was so relieved when I heard that and am praying that the law will be made! For the sake of Fanfiction and all other sites that we all go on!**

 **Now then, with that done, let's start this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or Pokemon. I also do not own the opening.**

* * *

 _ ***OPENING***_

 ** _(Instrumental)_**  
 _(Grima had his clutches on a fallen Ylisstol. He opened his mouth to reveal a colorful orb that split into different color lights. A map of Ylisse appeared in the background and the lights all landed on different places. Camera zooms in to the blue light)_

 _ **It used to feel like a fairy tale**_  
 _ **Now it seems we were just pretending**_  
 _(Lucina is seen walking in the woods with her mask on_  
 _A strong wind blew and removed the mask from her face._  
 _Lucina turned and saw her friends behind her, whom all disappeared as Roxy appeared in their place)_  
 _ **We'd fix our world**_  
 _ **Then on our way to a happy ending**_  
 _(Lucina and Roxy continued to walk in the woods, unaware of Coral watching over them as she took her leave.)_

 _ **Then it turned out life**_  
 _ **Was far less like a bedtime story**_  
 _(Scene changed to Ylisstol in the castle, where Chrom and Robin danced in the throne room_ _)_  
 _ **Than a tragedy**_  
 _ **With no big reveal of the hero's glory**_  
 _(Camera zoomed in on Chrom's mark. Color changed and camera zoomed out, changing the scene to Lucina facing Grima_ _)_

 _ **And it seems we weren't prepared**_  
 _(Scene changed back to Coral in her burning village, her family standing before her.)_  
 _ **For a game that wasn't fair**_  
 _(Camera zoomed around them and replacing Coral's family was a cloaked man, with six shadowed Pokemon by his side)_

 _ **Do we just go home?**_  
 _ **Can we follow through?**_  
 _(Scene changed in Plegia, as camera moved from Aversa, to Validar, to a cloaked Plegian in Robin's clothes to Grima behind them.)_  
 _ **When all hope is gone,**_  
 _ **There is one thing we can do**_  
 _(The Fell Dragon let out a loud roar, summoning many Risen by their side, all who charged in to fight)_

 _ **Let's just live!**_  
 _ **Day by day and not be conquered by our sorrows**_  
 _ **The past can't hold us down**_  
 _ **We must break free**_  
 _(Chrome and Gladiknight fought against a pair of Risen Chief, with Robin and Sparky providing backup_  
 _The Shepherds all fought against Risen of the same class as them in pairs, with their Pokemon fighting alongside them)_

 _ **Let's just live**_  
 _ **Just one day let's forget about our problems**_  
 _ **Let's fall in love with life**_  
 _ **And just be free**_  
 _(Scene changed again to Lucina's friends from the future, all fighting off against their own Risen)_  
 _ **The sun will never fade**_  
 _(Lucina and a boy wearing the same cloak as Robin's killed a chief together)_  
 _ **The night won't steal our day**_  
 _(The scene changed to the future kids in the peaceful woods, looking at the camera)_  
 _ **Let's laugh and dance and love and let's just live**_  
 _(Scene changed again to Chrom, Robin, and Coral looking at the sky from their castle balcony, with the title appearing)_

* * *

It's been a few days since Chrom and Robin's wedding. Things settled down since then. Citizens went back to their daily lives, soldiers were training and improving their skills, and the Shepherds were having the time to relax, now that the war against Plegia was over. The only difference was the Pokemon, whom became a part of their lives. Some civilians have Pokemon that are treated as pets or helped them with whatever plants they have. A few soldiers have Pokemon whom they trained with and joined the Shepherds in their Pokemon lessons with the ninjas. And the rest? Well... they were jealous of those that had partners, some more than most.

Cordelia was one of those jealous people. Watching the bonds many people were having with their partners and how well they do together, especially in the case of the Shepherds, she couldn't help but feel left out. All her life of being good at everything, unintentionally, and being called genius, she forgot what it was like to be treated as a normal person, to not be treated differently from anyone else in any way. Not only that, but even her childhood friend, Sumia, was too busy for her. Sure they were busy before the red-head joined the Shepherds, but this was on a whole new level. The pink armored Pegasus Knight was, not only busy with Pokemon lessons, but also with coming up with new combos with her partner, something Cordelia never thought she'd see. Every once in a while, Cordelia would see the two flying in the skies, doing some kind of combo moves, ordered by Coral that is, as a way to deepen their bond with each other. Whenever Sumia would mess up and ended up falling, Cordelia was about to get on her pegasus to save her, only to find that unnecessary as Avian was already swooping down to save her himself.

The genius Pegasus Knight was looking out a window of the Ylisstol castle, wondering if she would ever either find a Pokemon of her own or hang out with any of the Shepherds again. She let out a sigh at the possibility that it may never happen.

"That's quite a sigh," she heard. Turning her head, she saw Coral walking over to her, much to her shock.

"C-Coral?!" she gasped.

The blue ninja sweat dropped at her reaction, but let it slide. "Have you seen Exalt Emmeryn? Assuming Chrom told her about how he hired me, I need to talk to her about my mission, since our captain is on his honeymoon with Robin."

Cordelia looked at her in even more shock. "Mission? In that condition?"

"I can't let this slow me down. Chrom hired me to be a secret agent and he did promise to help me with my own mission. Besides, it's not like I'll be alone. I'll bring at least one of my Pokemon with me so I don't end up losing a leg after."

Due to her repaired ninja mask, Cordelia couldn't tell if she was making a joke or not, though it seemed to fall more to it not being a joke.

' _Wait!_ ' she thought. ' _If Coral is going to go on a mission outside of Ylisstol, that means more Pokemon to see. And more Pokemon to see also means..._ '

"Why don't I come with you?" Cordelia then asked the ninja. "If the area is a bit too far, my pegasus can take us to the destination. After all, Marth did take that big bird Pokemon you two rode on Chrom and Robin's wedding." It was true. After the wedding and getting Roxy's neckerchief fixed, Lucina took the Fearow they rode and left.

"True as it may be, but Neo is also a flier. He can take me to the location of the mission," Coral said.

"B-But... you'll need someone to watch your back! If you're not going to take your full team, you may have a hard time against whatever foe will come your way. And let's not forget about the Risen. They may appear unexpectedly like they did in Plegia."

Coral raised a brow at Cordelia's insistence in joining her on whatever mission Emmeryn will be giving her. Despite the pegasus knight's reason, the look in her eyes speak of desperation. It was then the otherworldly trainer realized that out of everyone in the Shepherds, the red-head before her is the only one without a partner. Gregor was without a Pokemon as well, but the previous day, there was a Rhyhorn rampaging in the streets and the third-person speaking mercenary managed to get in a tussle with the Spikes Pokemon. After managing to stop the Rhyhorn solo, the two managed to hit off quite well. Hence, leaving Cordelia as the only Shepherd without a Pokemon.

"Well, I guess a bit of back-up would do me some good. Especially since I can't use my dominant arm," the ninja said.

Cordelia was happy to hear that she was allowed to come along. "I'll do my best!"

Coral simply nodded in response. "Now come on. We have an exalt and a captain to find." As soon as the ninja turned her back and walked, the pegasus knight made a silent fist pump. She quickly regained her composure the second Coral turned to see if Cordelia was following and caught up to her.

* * *

After finding Emmeryn in the throne room with Phila, Coral went straight to the point with the exalt about her mission. As she thought, Chrom did inform his sister about her new job, but like Cordelia, the kind exalt felt that Coral should continue resting up her shoulder. After convincing her that Cordelia and her Pokemon would be doing most of the work until she gets better, Emmeryn finally gave in, with the condition that they take Phila and her newly befriended Tranquill.

Tranquill arrived at Ylisstol the day before. From what it seemed when they first met it, the Wild Pigeon Pokemon was new to the world, as it was flying around and panicking to everything. It was panicking so much that it crashed into the throne room, where Emmeryn and Phila were at the time. The exalt tried to calm it down, but the Tranquill was too frightened to listen and unintentionally attacked her. Phila managed to protect the exalt in time and got in a quick battle with the Flying-type. Upon somehow defeating it and calming it down, the exalt's bodyguard decided to take Tranquill under her wing, pun not intended. After healing it up and spending some time with the calm Wild Pigeon, the two got along quite well.

"We received a message from a village about an odd bear attack. East of Ylisstol and takes a couple days to arrive on foot," Phila informed. "The chief said some of his men came back incredibly injured and only managed to say something about bears."

"Bears and heavy injuries..." Coral placed a hand on her chin in thought. There were a handful bear-like Pokemon she could think of, but she had to see the damage herself to confirm exactly what Pokemon it was. "We should get some supplies. Let's meet up at the gate in an hour."

The other two nodded in agreement and broke off from there.

* * *

As she packed up her supplies, Cordelia couldn't help but wonder what sort of Pokemon they would see on the way to the village. Rather, she wondered what Pokemon would suit her. She was sure that it would be a Flying-type, like Sumia and Phila's partners. They'd have to be reliable, like Gladiknight and Sparky. She should make a strong bond with the Pokemon, like the ninjas have with theirs'. Just thinking about it made her feel like a child. She hadn't had that feeling since she decided to be a pegasus knight, even though that was for another reason entirely.

"Okay. That should be everything I need," she said, finishing packing up her travel bag. Cordelia grabbed the bag and rushed to the gate.

* * *

With Phila and Coral, the two were already at their meeting spot, waiting for the red-head to join them with her pegasus. With then was Phila's own pegasus and Seth.

"Are you two sure you want to take this mission?" the disguised Zoroark asked.

"I'm positive. Can't slack off even if I'm injured. Besides, it's getting better," the blue ninja answered. "What about you, Phila? Are you sure it's wise to leave Emmeryn alone?"

"We're now at a peaceful time. There shouldn't be any need to worry about assassination attempts. I'm sure she'll be fine. Besides, there's still your friends and the Shepherds to protect her," the exalt's bodyguard reasoned.

"You're saying that when, in truth, it's because of what Seth told you about them, isn't it? About how Tranquill lives in a peaceful environment where there is no war."

Phila sweat dropped and averted her eyes away from the ninja's, confirming her thoughts.

"Well, I suppose you still have a point though. Especially now that there's Pokemon in Ylisstol. If anything happens, they'll be the first to know," she then added.

The blue-haired pegasus knight relaxed at that.

"By the way, where is Tranquill? And are we early?" Seth asked. When Coral went to get him, she didn't give any information, just to meet her at the gate for a mission. "Who are we waiting for?"

"I sent Tranquil ahead of us to send a message back to the villagers, as well as give them some form of defense against the bears," Phila answered the first question.

"And as for who we're waiting for, it's Cordelia. Gave her an hour to prepare," Coral answered.

"She's coming with us?" Seth questioned.

"Yeah. Not primarily to help with the mission though."

Phila was confused at Coral's words. "What do you mean? Earlier you two said that she'll come to assist you as you can't really fight well in your current form."

"I said it's not the _primary_ reason," Coral said, emphasizing the word 'primary'. "Haven't you noticed how different she is from the rest of us?"

"In what way?" Seth asked.

"Think about it; what does she not have that the rest of the Shepherds does have?" At that question, Seth and Phila caught on to what she referred to. "This mission isn't just about that village. It's also about helping Cordelia find a partner of her own. That's why we're going on foot. This way, if Cordelia is as desperate as I think she is, she won't hurt herself as much as she would while we're in the village. She'll instead take her time, take a look at the Pokemon, see which one stands out more to her."

The other two nodded in agreement at the idea.

Unknown to them, Cordelia and her pegasus were hiding behind a building near them, overhearing everything they said.

' _I'm going to slow them down?_ ' she thought, now wondering if she should stay behind and take a look at the Pokemon around Ylisstol.

Unfortunately for her, before she could make a final decision, Seth spotted her. "Oh, there she us. Hey, Cordelia!" The prodigy pegasus knight flinched at his call as the Dark-type rushed to her side. "About time you got here. Come on, we got to go!" Before she could say anything, the Zoroark grabbed her arm and rushed out of the city.

"He does realize he didn't have to be that obvious, correct?" Phila asked.

"Let it be," Coral said, going to Cordelia's mount and led her to the duo far ahead of them.

* * *

As they walked in the woods to their designated village, Seth was taking the whole 'find Cordelia a Pokemon' thing a bit too far, for he kept spotting all sorts of Pokemon and give detailed information about them.

"Did you know Taillow are extremely courageous for such small Pokemon? Those guys have huge, gutsy spirit in them, big enough for them to tackle on tough foes, no matter how much stronger or bigger they are than them," he informed at the sight of the Tiny Swallow Pokemon. He then saw a Scyther and informed, "Scyther. Awesome Pokemon. We had those back home in our village. Swiftly Pokemon. Not as fast as Nic, but still fast enough to match a ninja's speed. Furret are also swift. Quick and light on their feet, despite their short limbs. Great for gathering information."

"He does realize he's making it quite obvious, doesn't he?" Phila whispered to Coral.

"Unfortunately." The one-word reply was all she needed to know. "And not only that..."

As Seth continued to talk about how amazing each Pokemon were and their good points, Cordelia couldn't help but feel even more down, for none had their eyes on her the same way the Shepherd's Pokemon were for their partners.

' _He's making things even worse,_ ' the two trainers thought.

"Speaking of Pokemon, what would you want for a-?" Before Seth could complete his question, Coral rushed over to the two and grabbed the Zoroark before he spoils the plan and rushed much further ahead of the pegasus knights.

"Did you forget what the purpose of this mission is?" she asked him in a whispered tone, with a dark aura surrounding her.

Seth flinched at the aura. "T-To find Cordelia a Pokemon partner?" he answered nervously.

"To help her find one. We can't force the decision on her. I wasn't forced to have you or any of my other Pokemon as my partners, was I? I chose to partner with you guys!"

"That's not how I remember it with us and Bella." Coral was confused as to what he meant by that. "Remember back when we first met? Bella and I were stealing some berries and causing havoc while we were running from that salesperson. Out of everyone there, you defended us for our actions and knew we had a reason for stealing."

"Yeah well, my mother was sick that day and those Lum Berries don't grow anywhere near our village. I knew you guys had a reason," Coral said, recalling the day they met. "You guys were trying to help out that Trevenant that took care of the two of you. But unfortunately, age was the reason why it was so sickly and in the end..."

"Yeah... After that, because we were still considered as thieves, the chief had to punish us. Funnily enough, that punishment was to become your Pokemon, and look where it got us."

"Yes. Years of getting involved in both your pranking antics after helping you both recover from your loss, as well as going on missions together, some that almost failed horribly."

"Hey, we were just starting off as ninja Pokemon! You can't blame us for that! Also, don't pretend you didn't enjoy being a part of those antics; you know you like them!"

Coral couldn't help but chuckle at the reaction. "Well, you got a point there. But what does that have to do with forcing Cordelia to choose a Pokemon?" she asked the question in a whispered tone.

"Well... we weren't just saddened by Trevenant's death that time," Seth answered. "Bella and I couldn't help but feel guilty at how you were forced with taking care of us, especially after you defended us that time. And yet, you don't look unhappy with us suddenly thrown into your life."

"And you think it's okay to do the same to Cordelia?" That question got the Illusion Fox Pokemon silent. "Seth, I had my reason to not be unhappy with you and Bella suddenly living with me. In fact, I already had Alex and Neo living with me that time. Cordelia? She wants a partner that feels right to her like you to me, Gladiknight to Chrom, and Sparky to Robin. Forcing this decision on her isn't going to end up like it did with us."

Seth glanced back at the red-head pegasus knight in question, who was busy looking at the Pokemon around them. "Yeah. Guess it's nice and slow it is," he said. Glad that her prankster of a ninja partner understood, Coral gave him a good pat on the back.

"Now, for almost ruining purpose, no treats for you for a week," she then added.

The disguised Zoroark instantly paled and gasped, "What?!"

Meanwhile, behind them, though she couldn't hear a word they were saying to each other, Cordelia couldn't help but glance at them while pretending to be interested in the Pokemon around her. If she didn't know Seth was a Pokemon under an illusion, she would think that he and Coral were just two good friends talking. But since she did know he was a Pokemon, watching them interact the way they were was making Cordelia feeling jealous once more at how familiar they were with each other. From behind her, Phila would see the sad look on her face and couldn't help but feel bad for her.

' _All my life I've met and trained her, I've never seen her like this,_ ' she thought. ' _It should've been her to have met Tranquill. Of what Seth said about Tranquill's evolved form, she would've been a better partner for her._ '

Just then, they heard the sound of growling and stopped. "What was that?!" Cordelia asked, suddenly on guard.

Almost on cue, Seth flopped down to the ground. "Ah... I'm hungry..." The girls and the pegasi anime fell at those words.

"Didn't you had breakfast earlier?!" Coral asked.

"Used it all up from training with the Shepherds and enduring their combo moves with their Pokemon," he simply reasoned.

Coral looked up at the sky. "Well, from how the sun is positioned, it should be time for lunch anyway."

"See?"

"So then we're going to take a lunch break here?" Cordelia asked.

"Not in the middle of the road. Seth, ask a Pokemon if there's a meadow or a field for us to have lunch," the blue ninja ordered.

"Leave it to me." The disguised Zoroark undid his illusion and started asking some Pokemon.

"We're not going to eat here?" Phila asked. "Then again, I suppose it makes sense. There could be other people walking down this path, and we wouldn't want to get in their way."

"That's true," Cordelia agreed.

"Well, that's also the reason," Coral said, much to their confusion.

Before they could ask what she meant by that, Seth returned in his human form. "We're almost close to the meadow. It's just a half an hour walk from here. A bit long, but I can handle it."

"A walk, huh? How about we race instead? It's been a while since we did that."

"Heh. You're on! You can't beat my Agility!" The next thing the knights knew, the two took off further down the road.

"What the-?! Wait up!" Phila called, rushing to catch up to them, with the pegasi in tow.

"What- hey! Hold up!" Cordelia ran after the group.

* * *

Several minutes later, the group arrived at a large meadow, one that had many beautiful flowers and some Pokemon hovering above the flowers.

"Whoa... Now this is a flower field," Seth stated.

"Good view and it's filled with peace. Perfect spot to have a picnic," Phila agreed.

"For our case, though, it's lunch. But it's good all the same," Coral also agreed. "There are even some flower-loving Pokemon over here."

Almost as soon as she said that, several Comfey noticed them and flew to their side, placing their lei around each their necks. One whiff at the flowers around them and they were instantly calmed and relaxed. Even the pair of pegasi had relaxed looks on their faces.

"I know Princess Lissa has one of these Pokemon, but I can never get enough of these flowers they have~" Phila stated.

"Right~?" Seth agreed, reverting back to his Pokemon form.

Coral instantly snapped herself out of the daze. "Well, as nice as this is, we should set up for lunch."

"Set up?" Phila asked, out of her own daze.

As the ninja retrieved her bag from the dazed Seth and set it down, she opened it up and took out, to Phila's surprise, some cooking pots and wrapped up meats and veggies, as well as some woods and fist-sized rocks.

"It'll take some time for the food to be ready. You guys do whatever you want while I cook up some curry," Coral said.

"Ro~" a dazed Seth replied.

"Where... did you manage to put all that?" Phila couldn't help but ask.

"In our world, doesn't matter the size of travel bag; it's enough to carry all sorts of necessities," Coral answered, lighting up a fire.

"Are you sure you don't want help cooking?"

"Not the first time I cook with a broken arm. I can manage."

"I see... I can't help but be more intrigued with your world with every new discovery. Wouldn't you agree, Cordelia?" When she received no reply from her knight, Phila turned and saw that the red-head genius was missing. "Guys. Where's Cordelia?"

The ninja and her Pokemon perked up at the question and saw that the girl was indeed missing.

"Where did she go?! We just went straight!" Coral said.

* * *

With the person in question... she was way far behind from the group and was panting heavily.

"I... can't..." she breathed, falling to her hands and knees. "Of all times... that I am without my pegasus..."

Yeah, did Cordelia ever mention to anyone that she was a lousy runner? Because that was the main reason why she became a pegasus knight. But of course, being a perfectionist she was seen as, she didn't have the nerve to admit it. Not even Sumia knew about it. At least, she hoped Sumia didn't know about it.

After catching her breath, Cordelia looked up and saw no one coming back to get her. "They must be at the meadow by now..." she said. "Either that or something happened... No, that can't be." Just as she took a step forward, from the corner of her eye, she saw a big bird in what seemed like a metal armor that fit it just right, with some rusts and burnt marks on it and a scar over its left eye.

Seeing it filled Cordelia with worry. "A Pokemon? Hey! Are you okay?!" As she approached the bird, it awoken to her voice and weakly opened its eyes. Once it saw her running over to it, the bird panicked and let out a loud caw.

"Skar! Skar!" The Pokemon shot up on its feet and flapped its wings, surprising Cordelia. As it moved its wings, Cordelia couldn't help but hear a familiar creaking sound. After a few flaps, however, the Pokemon fell back down, unable to move.

Despite their bad start, Cordelia knelt down to its side. "You poor thing..." She looked to see if the armor was removable, only to see no way of removing it without possibly harming the creature. Unfortunately, she saw no way of getting the armor off it.

' _This armor must be a part of it_ ,' she thought. ' _I'll have to at least get rid of the rusts_.' Placing her bag down, she took out some lemon and a small bottle of salt. Cutting the sour fruit in half with her lance, she sprinkled some salt over the inside.

"Assuming that armor is your skin, this may sting a little," she warned the Pokemon.

It weakly opened its eyes to see what the girl was doing and felt a slight stinging sensation over the rusted part of her wing. Heeding Cordelia's warning, the bird endured the sting as she scrubbed the rust off with the salt-covered lemon. The acidic and abrasive ingredients were easily removing the rust from its armor-like skin, to Cordelia's relief. After a while of removing the rust, she took out an Oran Berry and a blue, strawberry-like berry from her bag and cut them in bite-size pieces. After cutting up the berries, Cordelia held the pieces out to the bird Pokemon.

"Here. I heard these can help with the burn and regain your strength," she told it.

Though slightly wary of her, the Pokemon sensed no bad intentions from the pegasus knight and slowly ate up the pieces. As it ate, the burn marks on it was starting to disappear. Seeing this, Cordelia couldn't help but breathe out another sigh of relief.

Once it was done eating the berries, it stood back on its feet and let out a grateful cry. "Skar!"

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Cordelia said, stroking its chin. The Pokemon seemed to enjoy the feeling and nuzzled its face into her hand. The moment it did, the red-head felt something in her.

' _Am I-?_ ' Before she could complete her thoughts, however, a shout was heard.

"Cordelia! Hey! Where are you?!" The armor bird was surprised at the shout and flew off.

"Ah! Wait!" she cried out to it. Unfortunately for her, the bird kept flying away.

Rustling was heard nearby and Seth emerged from the trees. "There you are. Phila and I were looking for you. Did you get lost or something?"

Cordelia didn't answer his question. Instead, she was just staring off to where she last saw the armored Pokemon.

Seth found her silence quite odd. "Is there something wrong?"

"... It's nothing," she assured. "Where is the field you spoke of earlier?"

The disguised Zoroark led the girl to where Coral and her pegasus were. Unknown to them both, Phila was hiding in the bushes near them, watching everything from when Cordelia was done removing the rust from the Pokemon's armor.

' _What impeccable timing,_ ' she sarcastically thought.

* * *

After the group returned to the field, curry was served and even a table was set up for the group of four.

"Amazed as I am that you actually managed to make such great food, don't you think this is a bit much?" Phila asked.

"Maybe. But in my opinion, it's better than always eating sandwiches. After all..." Coral looked to the side where there were plates of curry on the ground and Pokemon feeding on them. "With good meals giving off good smell comes good allies. They'll help us gather information or search for our objective."

"Is this how you do it in ninja world?"

"So to say. Besides..." The two then looked to the side where Seth was sitting, happily stuffing his face in a plate of curry. "A good trainer gives their Pokemon what they want. And Seth loves curry."

"Seconds!" the disguised Zoroark cried out, holding out a clean, empty plate to his trainer.

"Had it prepared." Coral passed a large plateful of curry to him. Seth's eyes widened and sparkled at the sight in glee, to the point where he removed his illusion and wolfed down the second plate.

"I don't think the word 'love' does it much justice," Phila stated.

"First meal I gave him back when I took him and Bella in as a Zorua and Duskull respectively and to this day, it was 'the food fit for god'." Coral air quoted the last five words as she said them. "Told me those words when I asked the first time he ate curry as a Zoroark." The blue ninja noticed Cordelia was quite silent while they were chatting. In fact she had been quiet since they arrived in time for lunch. "You're awfully quiet, Cordelia. What's wrong?"

The red-head looked up at the question. "Huh? Oh, it's nothing."

"Cordelia, I've went on many missions and seen many people with many expressions. You seem conflicted."

"I may not see as much people as Coral had, but I know you long enough to know that I've never seen such a troubled expression on your face," Phila agreed.

Seth lifted his head and put on his illusion. "Now that they mentioned it, when I found you, you looked like you were distracted by something," he brought up.

Cordelia knew she couldn't keep it a secret any longer and told the group about the Pokemon she found and tended to.

"A Skarmory?! You found and, possibly, befriended a Skarmory?!" Coral questioned in a rare shock.

"Y-Yes. Are they that hard to train?" she asked.

"It's not that they're hard to train. But they are Pokemon fit for warriors, so to say," Seth explained. "They're a Pokemon with a body and wings of steel. Where I come from, we're lucky enough to collect the feathers fallen from them to make swords and knives, especially since they can only regrow their battered wings once a year, completely. In simpler terms, as a ninja, Coral greatly respect these Pokemon."

"Sword of Kusanagi's blade was made from their feathers. My grandfather told me many stories of how one Skarmory helped him in missions," the blue ninja explained.

"Your grandfather had one of these Pokemon before?" Phila questioned.

"He befriended one. But of what he told me, it wasn't willing to be around other humans beside him and stayed in the wild. Not only that, but it was the toughest Skarmory he had ever seen. No matter how many strikes it took, its body never had a scratch, dent, or cracks. The only time it got a scratch was when it faced off against my grandfather when they first met and fought, apparently. Kusanagi had a normal blade that time and broke during their battle. After that fight, though, the Skarmory handed him its feathers to remake it. Since then, my grandfather never lost a fight and Sword of Kusanagi never chipped, bend or break."

The two girls were in awe of the story. They never thought they would hear such a history from Coral. At the same time, though, Cordelia couldn't help but think back at the Skarmory she helped out and recalled the scar it had on its eye.

' _Could that Skarmory...? No, it couldn't be,_ ' she thought. ' _Pokemon couldn't possibly live that long, could they?_ '

"Well, enough reminiscing. Curry will get cold." With that, the girls and Seth went back to eating their lunch. Or in Seth's case, wolfing it down in his original form.

* * *

After lunch, the group of four continued down the path to their designated village, directed by the wild Pokemon. Before they left, Coral had asked them if they had seen any bear or bear-like Pokemon around, in which they shook their head no to.

Hours later, night came. The group stopped by a lake and decided to camp out there, as well as take turns being on a lookout for any potential enemies, namely Risen. And though Plegia was no longer in a war against Ylisse, nor were they hungry for blood, there was still Aversa out there, as well as the people she may be working with.

Cordelia had first watch. While everyone slept, she couldn't help but wonder still about the Skarmory she helped out. With the scar over its eye and the story that Coral told her, she couldn't help but wonder if it was the same Skarmory her grandfather knew. If it was, then what would make the Armor Bird Pokemon to the blue ninja with them? Though it was still a wild Pokemon, would it be willing to lend her a hand the same way it did for her late relative? Did it even know Coral? Would she be... allowed to be its partner?

Her eyes trailed towards the sheathed sword that lay besides its owner. Curiously, she took the blade out and noticed, from how the blade felt, it really was made of Skarmory's feathers. She quickly sheathed it back in and placed it back down.

' _That Skarmory... I wonder if we'll see it again,_ ' she wondered.

"What are you doing?" a voice questioned, surprising the pegasus knight. Tilting her head up, she saw Coral looking back at her.

She couldn't seem to find any words to explain herself, for she kept stuttering as she tried to speak.

"You're not in trouble, if that's what you're thinking," Coral said, instantly calming her down. "I just want to know why you're not on look out for potential danger."

Though quite hesitant, Cordelia told the kunoichi what had been on her mind.

"I see. So the Skarmory you helped out had a scar, like the one my grandfather befriended," the latter spoke. Cordelia nodded in response to the summary. "Well, the thing is, I'm not sure where the scar is. So for all I know, the one on the eye is a different Skarmory. And even if it is the Skarmory my grandfather knew, I've never met it before. I'm saying this now, if it sees Sword of Kusanagi, I can guarantee you that it will assume the worst and I will be the last person it will ever want to partner up with."

"But wouldn't it know who you are?"

"I look nothing like my grandfather. And I don't know how long it's been since they last saw each other. Like I said, I've never met it and according to my grandfather, it hates being around people. So yeah. For all we know, if that is the same Skarmory, it will see me as an enemy the second it remembers this sword. I don't know what'll happen if it sees you with me, but for your sake, I suggest you not be buddy buddy with me when the time comes."

Hearing that advice made Cordelia realize one thing. "When it comes to me and Donnel, why are you so concerned for us?" she dared ask. "To everyone else, you're so closed off, but to us, you're a little more open."

Coral raised a brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Don't think I didn't notice it. The other day after you were training the Shepherds, I saw you paying close attention to Donnel in particular. And not only that but... I may have overheard you, Captain Phila and Seth talking earlier. About helping me find a Pokemon. So why? Why go out of your way for us?"

Coral kept quiet at her question, unsure how to answer it. Or if she should even answer the question she was asked. "If you really want to know... it's because I see myself in the two of you." Of all answers, the red-head girl didn't expect that. In fact, she didn't expect for the ninja to answer at all. "For Donnel, I see the first step I took the become a ninja, to become a trainer. The way he was working hard, I couldn't help but see myself in him. Wanting to do everything he can to be independent, training hard to be on the same level as everyone else... He's like me when I was younger. And as for you, I remember when I was eager to get my first Pokemon. I was always watching everyone else either training or playing with their Pokemon. Some even do chores with them. I can tell how much they enjoy being around each other. I wanted the same thing as them and often go out in the woods to look for a perfect partner Pokemon myself. Mostly ended up in me getting hurt as I fought against them."

"You fought against Pokemon? As in you yourself?" Cordelia asked in shock.

"Believe it or not. I was a desperate child that time. I couldn't handle the wait and could've gotten myself killed. In the end, I waited, and eventually enough, I had my first Pokemon."

Cordelia couldn't help but sweat drop since Coral was comparing her younger self to the genius pegasus knight. "Except I don't remember running off to the woods to do any searching."

"The point is, don't try to rush it, Cordelia," the ninja advised. "I know you want to have a partner to be like the other Shepherds, but you have to be patient. Look at Gregor. He didn't make any jealous look, nor did he say anything about wanting to have a partner. And yet, a Pokemon found its way to him. I know you insisted on coming along and I agreed to it, but that doesn't mean you have to rush it. The perfect Pokemon will come for you. Heck, it might be that Skarmory. And last I checked, Avian left Sumia the first time they met and he still came back to help her and join us."

Cordelia took in her words and slowly nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Coral."

"Any time. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to stay awake during my shift, so I'll be heading back to sleep."

"Of course. Have a good sleep."

Unknown to them, there was something watching the small group.

* * *

The next day, the group woke up at dawn and continued their way to the village. Since Seth had the last watch, Coral returned him to his Pokeball to let him get some more rest. As much as the Zoroark would not want to stay in the ball, for he hates being in them, he had no choice but to oblige, since he may need all his strength for the fight that was to come.

A few hours later, the group arrived at the village. As they approached, Phila's Tranquill flew down to them, heavily injured.

"Tranquill?!" Phila gasped, looking at her Pokemon's condition as it landed on the ground.

"Quill..." it sighed.

"Either the villagers thought it was with the bears or it fought against them. Either way, those are some injuries," Coral said, taking out some Sitrus and Oran Berries from her sack.

"I'll go on ahead and see what happened," Cordelia insisted, already going on ahead of them.

Once she entered the village, she couldn't believe what she saw. Crops were destroyed, parts of some houses were torn down, and a few of the villagers were hurt.

Cordelia rushed to the group. "What happened over here?!" she asked.

"Those weird animals happened, that's what!" one villager, an elderly one at that, answered. "We were just minding our own business, wondering what to do with one of their kind for attacking a few of our men already when another one of them came swooping down. We fought with all we had but that sneaky, damn bird kept avoiding us and look what it did to our home!"

"Chief, it was mostly you and a couple others who engaged in combat with it," a male adult villager corrected. "All it did was land here and you shouted that it was an enemy that needed to be killed."

"Those damn creatures are not to be trusted! Creatures with such powers need to be destroyed before they destroy us! You saw the damages that were done!"

"You guys were the ones that caused this damage, not the bird," a female adult corrected.

At his story, Cordelia thought back to Tranquill and its condition. "Wait, you did that to Tranquill?!" she gasped in shock.

"And it better had died! We had enough problems with those bears, we don't want an oversized bird in the mix!" the elderly chief shouted.

"That oversized bird was an ally! It could've helped you! And didn't you see a message tied to its feet?!"

"We did. But the elder thought of it as a trick," a villager explained.

"There's no way creatures as crazy as those would be willing to help us! And while we're at it, who the hell are you?! Outsiders aren't allowed in this village!" the chief claimed.

That claim he made confused Cordelia. "Wait, if outsiders aren't allowed, then why did you send a request asking for help?"

"Huh?! The hell are you talking about?!" That question got her even more confused... until she noticed the shameful looks on the other villagers' faces.

' _They did it behind his back..._ ' she thought. Though she knew they had a reason, with how the elderly was reacting.

"Chief, she's here now. Why can't we just accept her help?" a villager asked.

"And get us involve in a war against these weird animals?! No thank you!" the guy declined.

All these accusations was getting Cordelia even more annoyed. "Now look here, did you even try to interact with the Pokemon yourself?! You can't make these ridiculous accusations about them! Your own people know that they're not all bad! Shouldn't it be your job as chief to hear their words?! It's because you're so stubborn that they decided to put up a request behind your back!"

"How dare you speak to me that way, young lady?! Don't you know how to respect your elders?! I don't know who raised you and how, but they must've done a horrible job!"

Each and every word coming out of his mouth was getting on Cordelia's nerves even more, and she was not one to lose her composure that easily. Unless if it was about things she was so sensitive about that is. Besides the point, the chief was close to getting a spear up his behind.

"It's a wonder how you're still chief then," came Coral's voice. The pegasus knight turned and saw the kunoichi walking up to them.

"Coral? What are you doing here? And where's Captain Phila?" she asked.

"I gave Tranquill what she needed to recover. Phila's staying at the entrance to look after her," the ninja explained. "Now, besides that, how is it that someone like you became chief when you're ignoring everything your own people are telling you? You're no chief, but a coward. I bet if these people want to join a fight for the people close to them, you'd be the only one remaining in this village, because you're too selfish to help out."

"And who are you to say such things to an elderly?! You have no respect at all!" the chief claimed.

"And you have no right to even talk about respect. All you have are words, no backbone whatsoever for your people! Whether you like it or not, Pokemon are a part of your life until they find a way to return back home! Your people, of what I can tell, are trying to find a way to get along with them and yet they can't because they have a chief who could care less what they think!"

Her retort was getting on the chief's nerves just as much as his words were getting to Cordelia and Coral. "This is why I don't like outsiders! They think the world revolves around them! That's why they are not allowed here!"

"Way to twists words, especially since we're trying to help and you're not accepting it!" To Cordelia, Coral then added, "Man, this guy's even more stubborn than Frederick and that's saying something." The pegasus knight couldn't help but agree with her on that.

"I don't know who this Frederick kid is, but how dare you for comparing me to him! I've had enough of this!" The elderly took up a hoe and pointed it at Coral. "Leave now or I'll make you leave, crippled!"

Coral simply sighed, not knowing if the old man was serious about trying to kill her with a hoe and slightly annoyed that he called her 'crippled' because of her arm. In the blink of an eye, the eastern ninja took out her sword and sheathed it back in. The next everyone knew, glints were seen on the hoe and it was cut apart in several pieces.

"What the-?!" the chief gasped.

"If I wanted to, I could've killed you instead of cutting that hoe in pieces. But as you can see, I didn't," she said. "As much as I want to kill you and hope the villagers choose someone else to be chief, I'm not a cold-blooded murderer and we're not here to kill you. We're here to help you guys with your bear problem. Now, in order for me to get a good grasp as to what we're facing, exactly, I need to take a look at the victims. I look at their injuries, I can tell exactly what sort of Pokemon we're dealing with."

"I can take you to them. Right this way," a female teenager said, already leading the ninja to an undamaged house.

"Hold it! You help that outsider, you'll-!" Before the chief can finish his sentence, a shuriken was thrown and landed right by his feet... literally.

"If you want what's best for you, I suggest keeping that mouth shut and trusting your people. I'd say what's best for the villagers, if not for the fact that you seem more concerned with yourself," Coral said. "Cordelia, I trust you to keep an eye on him."

"Of course," the pegasus knight nodded. At that response, the ninja continued her way to where the victims were.

"You damn outsiders are going to be the death of this village," the chief swore.

"Us... or you?" Cordelia said, making the guy glare at her.

* * *

Meanwhile, with Coral, she took a look at the injured, inspecting their wounds and asking some questions to those conscious.

"You say you were attacked by bears?" she asked.

"That's what they looked like," one of the injured villagers answered. "It was dark, but we know it was something like a bear. And it had something sticking out of its mouth."

Coral just nodded as the guy spoke, paying close attention to the bruises and scratches they got from the Pokemon they were describing. "Okay. I think I know the Pokemon we're dealing with. Now what's next is the why."

"'Why'? Why what?" asked Clare, the villager that led her to the injured.

"Why did they attack them? Pokemon don't usually attack people, unless if threatened or their youngs are harmed or..." The female ninja trailed off there. "Can you describe how you came in contact with those bears?"

"Can't remember..." the first injured answered.

"I can," a second spoke. "We were just... minding our own business... when they suddenly appeared and attacked us..."

"They just attacked you? You mean there was nothing else in the area by the time they arrived?" Coral asked.

"We weren't near any fruit-growing trees or bushes, if that's what you mean. And there were no cubs nearby either. Although... I think they had something around their neck. Might be mane, but the neck seemed kind of... bulky I guess."

The ninja placed a finger on her chin, confirming some suspicions. "Okay, I see what's going on. Thank you for your time." She got up and left the building.

* * *

After getting Cordelia and explaining to her of what she knew and was told as well as retrieving the red-head's pegasus from Phila, the two girls head into the woods where the Pokemon were said to be.

"Are you sure about this?" the pegasus knight asked.

"Positive. There's no doubt about it," Coral answered. "I've dealt with many Pokemon with many problems. If this is what I think it is, they will be sorry."

After a few more minutes of walking, they heard rustling in the bushes near them. They turned to the source and saw a mongoose-like Pokemon walking out of the shrubs, heavily injured as it collapsed.

"A Pokemon?!" Cordelia gasped, as her companion rushed over to its side.

"These injuries. They're like the ones those injured villagers had," she inspected. The ninja took out a Sitrus Berry from her sack and handed it to the weakened Pokemon. "Here. Eat this."

"Yun..." It opened its eyes and saw the berry held out to it. It ate the berry and slowly regained its strength.

"You'll be fine, Yungoos," Coral assured. Getting back up on her feet, she said to Cordelia, "If Yungoos came from that direction, then so are our targets. And its wounds were recent too, which means..."

"We'll have to prepare ourselves for battle," Cordelia caught on, getting on her pegasus and taking out her lance. "Need a ride?"

"Someone has to be on the ground. And if I ride with you, it won't be easy for me to swing my sword if I have to focus on holding on." With that, the ninja rushed to the direction Yungoos came from while Cordelia followed her on her pegasus.

* * *

In the direction the girls were heading to, a couple of bear-like Pokemon with collars around their neck and thin leaved shoot in their mouth were taking some weakened Pokemon in cages. With them were a trio of humans. One was a fighter, one was an archer, and one was a thief.

"Hahahah! Who'd have thought these Magical Creatures can make our lives easier?" the fighter asked.

"Especially when they are willing to do anything for their little, little cubs," archer added, referring to a pair of cubs that seemed quite similar to the ones putting the other Pokemon in cages. The cubs were tied against a tree with the thief watching over them, a sword in hand.

"Heh. Yeah. Who'd have thought these cute, weak little guys can help us control the adults?" he said, poking one of them on the head.

This annoyed the spunky of the two Pokemon as it tried to bite his finger, only for the guy to move his hand away in time. Of course, the bear cub was annoyed even more. "Pancham pancham! Cham cham pan!"

"Pancham..." the timid of the two spoke, trying to calm the spunky one down.

"Well 'pancham' to you too, cub!" The thief flicked the spunky Pokemon's forehead, to its annoyance. One of the adult bears saw the flick and growled at him. Instantly, he held a dagger to the cub's neck. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. We don't want anything to happen to this little fella, do we?" The growling subsided and the bear lowered its head in shame.

"I thought that'd be the reason," came a female voice. The three guys looked for the source in shock.

"Who said that?!" the fighter demanded.

"You got some nerve, taking a Pokemon hostage. And two Pancham at that. What cowards you are." Coral jumped out of the tree, her Sword of Kusanagi in hand, and went in to attack. The thief, out of reflex, blocked the strike. Coral backflipped away from them.

Seeing her condition, the fighter couldn't help but laugh. "Hahahahaha! You can't be serious! Those villagers... they sent a wounded to stop us? To stop the Magical Creatures?!"

"What's with you bandits and underestimating your opponents?" Coral couldn't help but question. "Besides, who said I was alone?"

As if on cue, Cordelia arrived and swung her lance at the three bandits, causing them to duck. The archer quickly got back up and shot an arrow. The knight quickly moved her mount away from the shot, avoiding the arrow as she made a u-turn. The archer prepared another arrow and was about to fire it when Coral appeared right in front of him and swiped her sword at his face. The guy managed to backflip away, receiving only a small cut on his nose.

' _Quite skilled, for a bandit,_ ' the female ninja noted.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, LADIES!" came the thief's shout. The girls looked and saw him pointing his sword at one of the Pancham. "Move another muscle and I'll kill these pandas!"

Cordelia gritted her teeth at the cowardly act, unsure of what to do.

"Then it's a good thing there are no pandas there," Coral said, to everyone's confusion.

"What'cha talking about, girl?! The cubs are in front of ya!" the fighter pointed.

"Are they now?" As soon as she asked her question, the pair of Playful Pokemon disappeared, much to everyone's shock. Cordelia instantly recovered when she realized what happened.

"What the-?! Where'd those pandas go?!" the archer demanded.

A whistle was heard and everyone turned to see Seth holding up the two cub-like Pokemon. "Looking for these little guys?"

"Our hostages!" the thief cried out in shock.

"They're not your hostages, nor were they even yours to begin with!" Coral retorted, pointing her sword at them. "Now, you have two choices: give up or die."

The men gritted their teeth, not believing how quickly things had changed. Growling was heard and they turned to see the older, evolved version of Pancham glaring at the three.

"Looks like the Pangoro want to take a few beatings in before you make your choice," the blue ninja added.

To her, Seth and Cordelia's confusion, instead of whimpers of fear of any kind, they heard what sounded like chuckles.

"What's so funny?" the pegasus knight demanded.

"Oh. Just how naive you kids can be," the archer answered, taking out something from his pocket.

"A remote?" Seth questioned, recognizing the object.

"You have one chance to return our products and give yourselves in as slaves," he said, ignoring the question.

"Or what?" Cordelia questioned.

Rather than answering her questions with words, the archer pushed the button on the remote and... something horrible happened. The collars on the two Pangoro's neck lit up and crackled out some electricity. The two Daunting Pokemon, for some reason, held their heads in pain.

"What the-?! What are you doing to them?!" Coral demanded.

"The consequence for not kneeling before us," was all the archer said, as the electricity died down and the two Pangoro dropped their arms. At first, it seemed like nothing happened, until they raised their heads, with their eyes glowing.

The girls and the Pokemon were shocked at the sight.

"What?!" Seth gasped.

Before they knew it, one of the two Pangoro charged at the Zoroark with a Bullet Punch. Seth was quick enough to act fast and use Agility to avoid the punch. "Hey! What are you doing?!"

Instead of an answer, the other of the two Pangoro charged, this time at Coral with a Hammer Arm. The ninja managed to avoid the attack. "Don't tell me... You're controlling them, aren't you?!" she demanded.

"That's right boss is," the fighter answered.

"Never thought those do-hickeys can actually do their job. That guy wasn't kidding," the archer said.

That last statement was what got Coral's attention. "Guy? What guy?!"

"No one you need to know. Now, as we were saying, give back our merchandise and be our slaves."

"Go to hell." The three members of the Shepherds got into battle positions, with the Pancham hiding in the trees to not interfere with the fight.

The bandits and the Pangoro charged in. The pair of Daunting Pokemon were going to fight Seth, the fighter and thief were up against Coral, and Cordelia had to deal with the archer alone. For Seth, it wasn't easy dealing with his pair of opponents. Not only were they just innocent Pokemon being controlled, but he's a Dark-type Pokemon; horrible matchup against Fighting-type like Pangoro. Coral wasn't having a better time, with her dominant arm in a sling, it wasn't easy to block or strike with her sword. Cordelia was kind of faring a little bit better, but with how swift her opponent was to block or avoid her strikes, she wasn't making much progress at all. And it didn't help with his class as an archer, for any airborne knights were weak against arrows.

Due to the big disadvantage they had against their opponents, Seth and Coral were easily taken out. As the Illusion Fox Pokemon went down in defeat, his illusion wore off, surprising the bandits and had that surprise quickly replaced with greedy looks. Cordelia saw this and directed her mount over to save the two. However, in doing so, she also left herself and her pegasus wide open for an arrow, as it struck the winged horse on the chest, causing it to let out a loud cry as it and the rider to fall to the ground.

"Cordelia!" Coral cried out in worry, only for the fighter to place his foot on her head, forcing her down as he gripped her injured arm.

"Now, now. We don't want this arm to get any worse, do we?" he said. The ninja couldn't do anything but gritted her teeth and glared at him.

"Hehehe. Well, looks like we're going to make some good money out of these guys after all," the leader of the trio said, approaching Cordelia with an arrow pointed to her. "Especially that black foxy over there. With a trick like that, it's definitely worth lots. Too bad I killed that pegasus, though. Could've gone for some cash."

"Keep your hand off of-!" Coral held back a cry as the fighter took her arm out of the sling and slightly twisted it.

"Come on, now. You're not going to be worth much with a missing limb, you know," the thief told her. "Just do us all a favor a shut up."

"I could care less if I die fighting. I won't let you get away with this!" the ninja shouted, only to get the fighter to twist her arm even more as she held back another painful cry.

"Hey, hey. There's no need to fight. Just accept your fate, and I promise to try to find someone who will treat you well," the leading bandit said.

"I thought I said... I could care less what happens to me." Hearing that surprised the guys. "I will never let you get away... with enslaving the Pokemon! No matter what you do to me, I will keep fighting until they're all safe from people like you! Until the day... I bring them back to their home! So go ahead. Break my arm off! Tear off all my limbs for all I care! I swear on my honor as a ninja, as a Pokemon trainer, that I will never give in! For the Pokemon!"

Cordelia couldn't help but be in shock with what she was seeing and hearing. There Coral was, held down by a muscular guy twice her size and yet, instead of fear, she saw her unwavering eyes full of life, spirit, confidence. Things she never thought she'd see in a person at a situation like Coral's.

Instead of sharing that same awe, the bandits took it as a challenge. "Is that so? Well then... Break her." At that command, the two Pangoro walked over to the downed ninja as the fighter got off her and took a few steps back.

If Coral could, she would grab her kunai knife and destroy the collars on the two Daunting Pokemon. But seeing as she was weakened from her fight against the fighter and the thief, both who were more skilled than she thought, all she could do was lie there, allowing herself to be beaten, if not killed, by the pair of fully evolved Pokemon. Before that happened, though, Cordelia stepped in between them.

"If you're going to kill my friend, you'll have to kill me first!" she exclaimed, pointing her lance at them.

Coral looked at the knight in shock. "Cordelia?!"

Seeing this annoyed the bandits. "Seriously? Well, guess we can forget about the slave bonus, boys," the archer said casually. To the Pangoro, he ordered, "Kill them both."

Seth weakly opened his eyes and saw the two Pokemon approaching the girls. He was about to cast an illusion, when the fighter slammed his face to the ground. "Whoa, whoa. We can't have you cast any more illusions," he said.

Seeing that she was alone in this battle, Cordelia charged in at the pair of Daunting Pokemon, hoping she could somehow get the collars off them. Unfortunately, since she was so focused on the collars, she didn't notice the Pangoro she was running to swing a fist at her. It struck in the gut, getting the wind knocked out of her, forcing her to release her grip on her weapon and knocking her several feet away from them. The genius pegasus knight struggled to get back up, ignoring the great pain she felt.

"Cordelia, run!" she heard Coral shout. "You can't fight them alone! You have to get out of here now! At the very least, you have to go back and get reinforcements! Save yourself!"

The knight felt her world stop when she heard those words; those same, exact words her fellow late pegasus knights shouted out to her when they fought against Plegian enemies that time. It was bringing back unwanted memories, of how her sisters all sacrificed themselves for her. It made her blood run cold and clenched her fist, digging up some dirt as she did so.

"Do you hear me, Cordelia?! Get out of here now!" Coral shouted again.

"No!" she finally shouted back, surprising the ninja. "I... Ever since my sisters died, I swore to never leave another ally behind to their death again! I'm not going to break that promise, so don't repeat their final words! I will fight... until my last breath!"

Coral just looked at her in disbelief. She knew she saw some part of herself in the red-head, but she didn't think Cordelia would also be so determined at anything. She was a hardworking, dedicated, genius pegasus knight, sure, but she never thought she'd see this sort of determination in her.

"Spunky, isn't she, boss?" the thief asked.

"Sure is. Too bad she has to die, though," the archer agreed. "Break all her bones."

The Pangoro unwillingly obeyed that command and approached the struggling knight.

Coral tried to get back up, but considering her beaten condition, she couldn't get herself a couple of inches off the ground without falling back down seconds later.

One of the approaching Pangoro's arms glowed as Cordelia just got on her knees. The red head turned and saw the arm being swung down on her... when something swooped down and knocked the Daunting Pokemon away, much to everyone's shock. Then, something familiar landed in front of her.

"You're-!" In front of Cordelia was the same Skarmory she helped out earlier.

The archer studied the Armor Bird Pokemon. "Huh. A bird wearing a sturdy-looking armor. Let's see if it's as good as it looks. Get it!" The two Pangoro's fists either lit up in flames or electricity via Fire Punch or Thunder Punch respectively as they charged at Skarmory.

"Look out!" Cordelia cried out.

That didn't stop the Armor Bird Pokemon, though, as it flew to the pair of Daunting Pokemon at high speed with an Aerial Ace, striking them both in the stomach and knocking them away. The sight of such strength surprised Cordelia and the bandits. Skarmory didn't stop there, for it made a turn and struck the fighter off of Seth.

Seth weakly got up and looked up at his savior. "Zoro..." he breathed, as if thanking the Armor Bird Pokemon, who nodded in response.

"That sort of speed and strength for a sturdy bird will make it even more worthwhile," the archer bandit said in a smug tone. "All right, you pair of bears, take it down!"

The mind-controlled Pangoro charged at Skarmory with their fists glowing once more. All of a sudden, the two Pancham from earlier jumped down from a tree above them, grabbing hold of their faces and blocking their views. One of the Daunting Pokemon wildly sung its arm while the other tried to pry its Pancham off.

"Now's your chance!" Coral managed to shout. "It's those collars! Those Pangoro are being controlled by them! Get them off!"

That was all Skarmory needed to know, as its wings glowed and it shot itself towards the Fighting/Dark-type Pokemon. With such great accuracy, it cut the collars in pieces, freeing the victim Pokemon. The Pancham noticed the collars gone and took a good look of their evolved form. The Pangoro seemed to have reverted back to normal, much to their joy as they hugged the Daunting Pokemon, who hugged them back.

The three bandits had dumbfounded look when they saw the collars easily destroyed.

"Boss... What do we do now?" the thief asked.

"Now... We run!" At the archer's order, they tried to make a break for it. "Bulk, grab a cage or two!"

The fighter grabbed a cage that contained a Furret, a Minccino, and a Patrat and continued to run.

Cordelia noticed the three's attempt to escape. "Hey! Stop right there!"

Skarmory also noticed their attempt and instantly caught up with them with Aerial Ace. It struck all three of them hard, knocking them unconscious and breaking the cage open for the Pokemon within to escape.

The two girls couldn't help but be awestruck at the Armor Bird Pokemon.

"Well, at least... we'll have a safe ride back..." Coral said, as she struggled to get up with one arm. She suddenly felt light, as a Pangoro helped her up and on her feet. "Whoa... Thanks for that."

The other Pangoro carried Seth on his back, given his condition.

"Looks like we have a way back to the village," Cordelia said, watching the two Pangoro help the ninjas and Skarmory get the knocked out bandits on its back. The Armor Bird Pokemon then walked over and grabbed Cordelia by the back of her armor, helping her up on her feet as well.

"Yeah. Time to head back. But first..." Coral trailed off as she looked over to the fallen pegasus.

Cordelia followed her eye sight and knew what she meant. With all that happened, she didn't have the time to mourn but now... The red-head approached her mount and saw that it remained unmoving. Saddened by its fate, all she could do was kneel down by its side and cry.

* * *

After mourning for Cordelia's pegasus' death, the group gave it a proper burial somewhere in the woods and returned back to the village. As soon as they got back, so to say the chief was livid to see them back with the Pokemon. Despite the girls' explanations as to what actually happened, he didn't seem to buy a single word. The rest of the villagers believed them, though, as one of them knocked the elderly out and they all accepted the Pangoro and Skarmory with open arms. Not only that but, behind their chief's back, they already decided to have someone take his place as chief. They also assisted Phila in helping Tranquill recover from her last 'visit' in the village.

"We will make sure these bandits gets the justice they deserve," Clare informed. The girls were resting in an inn, recovering from the battle.

"I hope so. The less of their kind there are out there, the safer the world is for the Pokemon," Coral said, her arm in a new cast.

"I'm sorry. I was suppose to be with you and yet, you all could've died," Phila apologized.

"You're not to blame. I should've known better than to just bring one of my Pokemon. Especially in this condition. But, at least we're alive. Speaking of, how are you, Cordelia?" the ninja asked the pegasus-less knight.

"I... I don't know, really. I'm sad that I lost my mount, but at the same time, I guess I... can't help but feel a little happy." Cordelia was looking outside, where Skarmory sat by the entrance, glaring at anyone who came into eye contact with it.

Phila and Coral knew what she meant, as the former looked out the window to see her recovered Tranquill flying in the air while the latter was looking at her resting Zoroark on a bed.

Clare couldn't help but have a smile form on her face at how at peace the three seemed. "If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask any of us." With that, she left.

"Are you going to ask that Skarmory?" Coral couldn't help but question. "After that save, I think it speaks for itself that it may want to join you."

Cordelia looked at her in slight shock. "You say that but, what if it's your grandfather-?"

"I don't mind if it is my grandfather's friend. I thought I told you already; that Skarmory hates people, supposedly. Even if it knew I am the granddaughter of its good friend, I can guarantee you that it would rather be with you, someone it knows. Besides, I don't have room in my team for one more. Just go ask."

With what little courage she had, Cordelia steeled herself and walked out the door and down to where the Armor Bird Pokemon was.

"You really think that Pokemon will join her?" Phila asked.

"Possibly. If my grandfather managed to get it to open up to at least him, then after what Cordelia did for it, so can she," the ninja answered. She then got up and slowly moved to the doors.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to have a word with those bandits. They had something that shouldn't be in this world and I need to know how they got it."

"Not with those injuries. You should be resting."

"All right, then how about you take me to them? At least I won't overexert myself then."

Phila sighed as she saw that the kunoichi wouldn't the matter slide until she got her answer. "Very well. But when we get back to Ylisse, I will be expecting for you to get at least a week worth of rest."

"... If that's what it takes." With that, the two also left the room, leaving Seth to rest peacefully on the bed.

* * *

With Cordelia, the red head pegasus knight was walking over to Skarmory, who was still glaring at all the villagers staring at it.

"Hey there," she called. At the sight of her, the Armor Bird Pokemon ceased its glare. "I would ask how you're doing, but I can see that you're not at all used to anyone here, are you?"

As if to answer her question, Skarmory kept on look out for the villagers around them, glaring at any who dared come close to either.

"You... don't like people?" Cordelia was responded with a head shake. "That scar on your eye... Was it from a human?" This time a nod. "Did you... hate that person?" Head shake. "Was he your trainer?" Another head shake. "Have you met his family?" And another head shake. Cordelia steeled herself up for the next question. "If... If you meet that person's child or grandchild, would you go with them?" Skarmory thought about the question for a few seconds. And it answered... with a head shake. "I would ask why not, but I don't think I can understand you." As though answering that unasked question, Skarmory got up and walked closer to Cordelia. The next thing the latter knew, the former nudged its head to her. As it did so, Cordelia felt something spark as tears started to form in her eyes. "You... want to be my partner?" A nod met her question, causing Cordelia to shed the tears as she hugged it and cried on its head. "Thank you..."

* * *

With Coral and Phila, they were in the shack the bandits were kept in. Well, Coral was; Phila was on guard outside, per the ninja's request. Said girl was interrogating the bandits.

"I am going to ask one more time. And you better give me an answer. Where did you get those collars?" she demanded.

Due to her condition, the three guys did not at all find her intimidating. "Look kid. You want info out of us, you got to do something for us," the archer told her with a smug look

"Yeah. Like maybe a meal," the fighter said.

"Or even better; let us out of here," the thief added.

Coral just sighed in annoyance. "Well, so much for being subtle." Next thing the guys knew, Coral took out a senbon and threw it, getting the archer in the leg.

"ARGH!" The other two couldn't believe what they saw happened.

"What the-?!" Before they knew it, Coral tossed a pair of shurikens, striking the thief in the arm and the fighter on the right side of his chest and causing them to cry out in pain as well.

"I didn't hit anything vital. But if you don't tell me what I want, I will aim closer to your vital organs. Of course, I could always just cut your limbs off, but the fun wouldn't last that long then," she told them.

"Fun?!" the archer gasped in shock. "God, you're even worse than him!"

Hearing that caught her interest. "Who is 'him'?"

His henchmen looked at him in fear.

"Are you crazy?! You know you can't tell her!" the thief said through gritted teeth.

"Can't tell me what?" she pressed on.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" the fighter said, clearly in fear.

"It's not like he'll know. Besides, we're never gonna see him again," the archer said, increasing Coral's confusion.

"Who is this 'he'?!" she demanded again.

"That guy will kill us if he finds out!" the thief told his boss.

"Again, he'll never know!" the archer argued.

"And what if he does know?! And don't forget what they did to us!"

"Now it's a 'they'?!" Coral questioned. "Okay, tell me what's going on! Who gave you those collars?!"

"No one!" the thief and fighter answered.

Coral saw this was getting nowhere and tossed a senbon to each of them: the archer in the elbow, the fighter in the center of the chest and the archer on the thigh. The trio cried out in pain again. "Let's try this again. Who did you get those collars from? If you dare get in another argument, I will cut your limbs off and kill the fighter."

"Why me?!" said muscle man asked.

"Well, you're getting close to the heart. And I'd rather not cut off all your limbs."

"W-We can't tell you! If we do, we'll die!" the thief told her.

"And what difference would it make if you don't tell me?"

The bandits paled at her words, now fearing the girl in an arm cast. The archer, though, tried to hide that fear. "Heh. Why don't you bite me?"

"You sure you want to test me? I can see your fear. I can smell it. In fact, why don't I start cutting your leg off? Slowly, painfully. Maybe even give it more cuts while I'm at it."

And the archer was paler at the thought of it. "H-He's not like everyone else here," he began.

"Boss?!" the thief gasped.

"If anything, he's a lot like you. He even uses these weapons you're using!"

' _A ninja?!_ ' Coral thought in shock.

"There is also that woman with him. A... dark mage or a sorceress. I don't know. I do know she was one hottie."

Not wanting to waste time, Coral cut the archer's leg, making him scream in pain. "Stop stalling and tell me who they are!"

Just then, Phila barged in. "What's going-?!" Her eyes widened as she saw Coral standing over the two guys with her sword out. "Coral! What are you doing?!"

"I'm getting close to information, Phila!" Back to the archer, Coral once again demanded, "Who are they?!"

"Okay okay, I'll talk!" he cried out. "I'm warning you now, I am not so good with names, but I do remember that the woman's name... It started with an 'A'. Something like... Alicia? Apressa?"

Coral's eyes widened as she realized who the woman was. "Aversa," she unknowingly breathed out.

Phila widened her own eyes in shock at the name. "What?!"

"And what of the man with her?!" the female ninja demanded.

"Hate that guy. If you're really going to kill him-"

Coral grabbed him by his collar and brought him closer, her sword raised for the kill. "His name! NOW!"

"H-H-H-His name is-...! I-It was... It was- uh..." The next thing that happened was one that surprised them all.

The archer started bleeding from his nose and he was trembling. The tremble changed into a shake and blood was starting to seep out of his eyes and nose.

"What the...? What's happening to him?" Coral asked the other two bandits, both who seemed extremely scared at what was happening.

"He knows..." the thief whispered.

The archer suddenly started screaming, surprising Coral to the point where she dropped him. He clutched his head in pain, struggling, writhing, tossing and turning. Blood then started to come out from his mouth, gurgling his screams. And before they all knew it, both the thief and the fighter started to get the the symptoms as well. Seconds later, the archer's body slowly, but surely turned into a puddle of blood. Skin, muscles, organs, bones... all turned into blood. Soon enough, the same result happened to the other two.

Coral and Phila just stood there in shock, wondering what the hell just happened.


	4. The Auction Lead

**Hey guys! Back with another chapter of Pokemon Emblem: Awaken the Ninja! This month has been busy for me with work and other stories, mostly work, took up my free month. But I'm back, I have a new chapter here, and you will definitely love it~! For the most part, maybe. Why most? Well... Beware of the bloody scenes that will appear in this chapter. You have been warned.**

 **Now then, with that done, let's start this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or Pokemon. I also do not own the opening.**

* * *

 _ ***OPENING***_

 ** _(Instrumental)_**  
 _(Grima had his clutches on a fallen Ylisstol. He opened his mouth to reveal a colorful orb that split into different color lights. A map of Ylisse appeared in the background and the lights all landed on different places. Camera zooms in to the blue light)_

 _ **It used to feel like a fairy tale**_  
 _ **Now it seems we were just pretending**_  
 _(Lucina is seen walking in the woods with her mask on_  
 _A strong wind blew and removed the mask from her face._  
 _Lucina turned and saw her friends behind her, whom all disappeared as Roxy appeared in their place)_  
 _ **We'd fix our world**_  
 _ **Then on our way to a happy ending**_  
 _(Lucina and Roxy continued to walk in the woods, unaware of Coral watching over them as she took her leave.)_

 _ **Then it turned out life**_  
 _ **Was far less like a bedtime story**_  
 _(Scene changed to Ylisstol in the castle, where Chrom and Robin danced in the throne room_ _)_  
 _ **Than a tragedy**_  
 _ **With no big reveal of the hero's glory**_  
 _(Camera zoomed in on Chrom's mark. Color changed and camera zoomed out, changing the scene to Lucina facing Grima_ _)_

 _ **And it seems we weren't prepared**_  
 _(Scene changed back to Coral in her burning village, her family standing before her.)_  
 _ **For a game that wasn't fair**_  
 _(Camera zoomed around them and replacing Coral's family was a cloaked man, with six shadowed Pokemon by his side)_

 _ **Do we just go home?**_  
 _ **Can we follow through?**_  
 _(Scene changed in Plegia, as camera moved from Aversa, to Validar, to a cloaked Plegian in Robin's clothes to Grima behind them.)_  
 _ **When all hope is gone,**_  
 _ **There is one thing we can do**_  
 _(The Fell Dragon let out a loud roar, summoning many Risen by their side, all who charged in to fight)_

 _ **Let's just live!**_  
 _ **Day by day and not be conquered by our sorrows**_  
 _ **The past can't hold us down**_  
 _ **We must break free**_  
 _(Chrome and Gladiknight fought against a pair of Risen Chief, with Robin and Sparky providing backup_  
 _The Shepherds all fought against Risen of the same class as them in pairs, with their Pokemon fighting alongside them)_

 _ **Let's just live**_  
 _ **Just one day let's forget about our problems**_  
 _ **Let's fall in love with life**_  
 _ **And just be free**_  
 _(Scene changed again to Lucina's friends from the future, all fighting off against their own Risen)_  
 _ **The sun will never fade**_  
 _(Lucina and a boy wearing the same cloak as Robin's killed a chief together)_  
 _ **The night won't steal our day**_  
 _(The scene changed to the future kids in the peaceful woods, looking at the camera)_  
 _ **Let's laugh and dance and love and let's just live**_  
 _(Scene changed again to Chrom, Robin, and Coral looking at the sky from their castle balcony, with the title appearing)_

* * *

The next day, after the event in her last mission, as soon as they returned to Ylisstol, Coral requested for a large map of the world to be brought to her room. As soon as it was brought in, the blue ninja quickly pinned a dated, summarized note of the mission right at the location of the village she was in.

' _First clue I got since arriving here about my village,_ ' she thought. ' _A group of bandits spoke about a ninja who gave them a Pokemon mind-control equipment. I don't know if there are other ninja villages back home, but if there isn't, that would mean that whoever destroyed our home is a traitor. Even so, none of the four villages would even think about making such a tech that would take away a Pokemon's will and freedom. But, if there is a traitor, that would mean they would have a connection of some kind outside the village to have obtained such a device. Well, until I have more information, I can't say much about who this ninja is. If only that bandit said his name. Then again..._ ' Coral's mind went back to when the three bandits suddenly died on her. Well, saying that they died would be an understatement, with how they had left the living. ' _Whoever this person is knew what they were doing. But I will definitely find them._ '

* * *

Meanwhile, with Cordelia, ever since the group returned with Skarmory, who she named Scar, the Armor Bird Pokemon never left her side for even a second, with the exception of privacy. Not only that, but when approached by other Pokemon, for some reason, especially Flying-types, Scar was unexpectedly quite competitive. After several fights and a bunch of convincing, but Cordelia somehow managed to get the Armor Bird to behave around the other Pokemon. Within the short time of battling, though, Skarmory seemed to have found a rival in Avian, whom seemed to return the favor. This caused some worry for their trainers, who were childhood friends.

Other than that, after explaining how the mission went, Cordelia was happy. Sure she was still quite saddened by the loss of her pegasus, but she was also still happy to have found a Pokemon partner in Scar. With her loss, though, rose many questions about her class. She couldn't be a pegasus knight without a pegasus, and there weren't any 'spare' per say, so it brought some worries, especially from her herself, as she didn't want to admit what a horrible runner she was. She got lucky when Coral, Seth and Phila ran ahead, since Scar was there to help give her an excuse for not catching up with them, but next time... she didn't want to hear the end of it if they knew. Fortunately, that problem was resolved, when Scar suddenly had Cordelia on his back and started to fly around the city. It took a bit of time to adjust, but the genius knight got the hang of the speed and became the first Pokemon Rider of Ylisse.

And with the new position for the red-head rider came a new responsibility, one that involves her becoming captain of a soon-to-be new unit. Yes, Chrom and Robin both saw her and Scar flying around quite well when they were returning from their honeymoon and were impressed with what they saw to the point where they gave her the new position. And since this was coming from her crush, who was Cordelia to decline? He may be a married man, but she still has some feelings for him.

"You're lacking Cordelia! You may be new and just formed a bond with Scar, but that doesn't mean you get to slack off on the first day!" Kazuto told her. After Cordelia returned and got her position, she was eager to train with her fellow Shepherds and wanted to start immediately. Yes, she was offered to start at a later date, but she was too eager and excited to wait... a mistake she regrets.

"I probably should've taken a couple more days to recover," she said, on her knees and panting as she caught her breath.

"You made this decision," Sumia reminded.

Scar grabbed the girl by the back of her armor and helped her back on her feet, eager for more training, compared to his trainer.

"Someone wants to do more," Kazuto noted.

Cordelia looked over to the Armor Bird and said, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but let me have a bit of time to rest."

"Motivation is good and all, but rest is just as important as training. Let this be your first lesson."

"Right." Scar had an annoyed look on his face at the sound of break time. "Don't let me resting stop you from training yourself."

"We may need a sort of... live dummy so to say and our Pokemon can do so much in each situation. None can fly as fast as you, nor are they as durable. And we don't have any wyverns here for the next training I have in mind so..." The Skarmory saw where this was going and eagerly walked over to him. "Looks like we've a volunteer, ladies and gentlemen."

Chuckling slightly at his action, Sumia then said, "I should walk Cordelia to her room then."

"Go ahead. Want Avian to join you or us?"

The brunette pegasus knight looked over to her Braviary, who seemed to not mind with whatever she chooses. "In that case, I'm sure he'll need a break. It won't be fair if my pegasus is the only one resting up." Avian nodded at her decision and sat down, patiently waiting for her to return from her little trip. With that, the two females left the training ground. Or were about to.

"I see things are quite busy here," Chrom said, as he and Robin approached them.

"Captain!" both female knights gasped.

"Heard about the mission, Cordelia. I'm sorry for your loss," the prince said, referring to the red-head's pegasus.

"O-Oh. It's fine. She... did what she could," Cordelia said.

"If you want, we can talk to the exalt and plan a proper burial," Robin suggested.

"I appreciate your kindness, Robin, but that's really not necessary. Besides, my pegasus wouldn't like it if I keep mourning for her death."

The two married couple smiled at her words. "Yeah. And you got a new Pokemon out of it," Chrom added, looking over to her Skarmory, who looked back with a confused look.

"Yeah. That's true," Cordelia agreed, also looking over to her Pokemon.

"So why are the royal newlyweds here, just when they came back from their honeymoon?" Kazuto asked. "I'm sure it's not just to see the progress of the Shepherd's training. And though news of the mission have been spreading like wildfire, something tells me there's more to this visit."

Chrom and Robin both let out a small laugh at his words. "We really can't hide anything from ninjas, can we?"

"With all due respect, your highnesses, we ninjas have met lots of people."

"Well, you're not wrong. About why we're here," Robin said. "There was something we heard on our way back. Rumors about a dark mage terrorizing some villages with Pokemon. We're both positive that they're doing it against their will, but we don't know where."

Hearing that shocked the three Shepherds. "Why didn't you stop them?" Kazuto asked. Quickly realizing what they were without weapons and Pokemon that time, he quickly said, "No wait, never mind. Forget I ask."

Cordelia looked up and saw Coral walking down. "Coral!" Her gasp brought the attention of many around her.

"What?" the blue ninja asked, unfazed by the call.

"What do you mean 'what'? You should be resting! If you think anyone is going to let you go on this mission before you fully recover, you have another thing coming! I am taking you to your room, no questions asked!" That said, the red-head quickly took the injured ninja to her room.

"And she was the one who wanted to rest," Kazuto said at the irony.

* * *

With Cordelia and Coral, the former managed to get the latter to her room.

"Because of your recklessness last mission, your arm is at a worse condition than before. If you really think you're going on this mission, assuming you overheard the conversation, you have another thing coming! You will stay in this room until your arm fully recovers. Not halfway, not enough to be out of the sling, not enough that you can hold your sword, until it is recovered completely!" she scolded.

"Okay. I hear you. Though you're one to talk," Coral said. "I mean, you risked your own life for mine. You should be resting too. And yet, I heard that instead of rest, you decided to train with Scar."

Cordelia's eyes widened as she slightly panicked at the point the ninja made. "Well I wasn't as injured as you are! Nor did I have any broken bones that broke even more."

The blue ninja huffed at the facts. "Touche. Well, I guess I should... get some more rest then."

Cordelia nodded in agreement and was about to leave, when she noticed that, as Coral was about to lie down on her bed, the otherworldly girl gripped her leg, and helped it up on the bed. The former raised a brow at that action. "Is there something wrong with your leg?"

"Huh?" Now it was Coral's turn to panic a bit. "Oh no. It's uh... It's just a cramp. Nothing to worry about."

"You sure? You were limping when we were walking earlier," Cordelia pressed on. The red-head especially found it weird how Coral was avoiding eye contact and walked to her bedside. Next thing the ninja knew, the Pokemon Rider hit her leg.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"You're not her," Cordelia said instead of answering the question. "Back when we were attacked by those bandits, she didn't let out a scream when one of them twisted her broken arm back. I didn't hit your leg that hard when you screamed. Don't tell me..."

Seeing that the jig was up, 'Coral' let out a sigh. "The things I do for my trainer." Next Cordelia knew, taking Coral's place was Seth, in his Zoroark form.

"Oh no... Tell me she didn't overhear that conversation earlier." In response to Cordelia's question, Seth nodded his head. "That's not good..."

* * *

With the ninja in question, after overhearing the conversation Chrom and Robin head earlier with Kazuto, Sumia and Cordelia, she may had stolen a horse and was currently making her way down the path Chrom and Robin used when they returned to Ylisstol.

' _If I recall, this is the direction of where Chrom and Robin were having their honeymoon. According to the map, this should be the only road to and from that place. There are also a few rest stops here. One of them is bound to have more information on that rumor those two are talking about,_ ' she thought. ' _If that dark mage is Aversa... That Plegian better be prepared!_ '

"Hyah!" she shouted, whipping the reins and making her 'borrowed' horse run faster than before.

* * *

Back in Ylisstol...

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S GONE?!" Kai demanded. Yeah... Cordelia told the group of how their eastern ninja disappeared on them like so.

"She can't possibly be thinking about finding that dark mage we were talking about, can she?" Sumia asked.

"This is Coral we're talking about; of course she would be going there," Sully bluntly replied.

"We have to find her and stop her before she does anything reckless!" Robin exclaimed.

"Whoa, wait! Your highnesses are coming with us?" Donnel asked.

"Is that a problem?" Chrom asked back.

"Well it's just... you both just got back from your honeymoon. I thought that maybe you both would want to relax a little more before going on missions like this."

"He has a point, milord," Frederick agreed. "I suggest it'd be best if you two stay here while the rest of us go out and find Coral."

"It'll be risky if you all go, though," Robin said. "We should have at least half of us here in case if something goes wrong."

"You're our tactician, Robin. Who do you suggest should go then?" Yuuki asked.

"If Coral's traveling by horse and is taking the route I think she's taking, then Sumia and Cordelia should both go. It's faster to travel in the air than the ground. In case if they meet up with trouble, Gaius and Lon'qu, go with them. For healing and long-range support, Maribelle, Ricken, Tharja and Virion-" Robin stopped herself when she realized something. "Wait, where is Virion?"

Chrom looked at the many Shepherds among them and noticed that their archer was indeed missing. "Now that she mentioned it, where is he?"

"We don't know. He just left after your wedding," Ricken answered. "Never said where he was going."

"Okay then. If that's the case, then just the selected I called, Kai and their Pokemon will go and get Coral back. Be careful, guys. If what Chrom and I heard were true, then this dark mage may have the Pokemon to do all the fighting for him."

"Doing such a thing to living creatures... IT'S UNFORGIVABLE!" Kai shouted. He suddenly ran to the direction out of Ylisstol. "WAIT FOR ME, LADY CORAL!"

"Hey wait! You forgot your Pokemon!" Yuuki shouted. Unfortunately, the ninja was already out of sight.

"How long do you think it'll take him to realize?" Nowi asked.

"Hard to say. This rarely happens, and he's pretty committed," Kazuto answered. Turning to Kai's Pokemon, he told them, "You should go after your trainer before he gets too far."

They all nodded in agreement and ran or flew after their ninja master.

"I suppose that means we're all going now?" Sumia asked.

"It's either that or we'll lose two ninjas," Chrom said. "Grab your weapons and move out, guys! Go!"

At those words, the called Shepherds took their weapons and, with their Pokemon, ran after the group. Well, almost all of them.

"Robin. Can I ask you something before I go?" Tharja asked.

"Sure. What is it?" Robin asked back.

"Why are you putting me on this mission? I would understand everyone else, but Ricken is a good enough mage to provide enough support."

"Because if this dark mage is using some kind of spell to control these Pokemon, who else can I trust to break it?"

After a few seconds of silence, a light blush formed on the Plegian Shepherd's face at the compliment. Tharja turned away, satisfied with the answer. "Well, when you put it that way, I guess I can go." She and Muma both got on Avian, who stayed behind at his trainer's request to give them a ride, and followed after the rest of the group.

* * *

With Coral, she arrived at the first rest area. Tying the reins to a tree nearby, she walked into the small shop placed there. Upon entering, the first thing she noticed were the small amount of people in there. Sure the shop was small, but there still weren't much customers in.

Walking up to the counter, she asked the bartender for some water.

"Did you hear?" she heard nearby, as she drank her water. "Apparently that mage is at it again." Turning her head slightly to the source, she saw two guys talking.

"The one controlling those magical creatures?" one of the two asked.

"Yeah. Went and attacked another village. I'm telling you, those things are just too strong. This is like the fifth time it happened."

"Have this news not reached the Shepherds yet or something? At this rate, all of Ylisse will be conquered by these magical creatures."

"Funny you mentioned that. Because according to this map and going by the number of villages this mage took down, I think he's heading over to Ylisstol where the Shepherds are."

"Hang on, you mean this person may be a..."

"A Plegian? Might be."

"Man. Those Shepherds better get rid of them all, before they reached there." Coral raised a brow at what he said.

"What are you talking about?" the guy with the rumors asked, just as confused. "In case if you haven't heard, those magical creatures are practically the good guys."

"If they're good, then why aren't they helping us with our everyday problems? They'll make our lives a lot more easier if they do all our work for us," his friend said.

"That may be, but I heard they're just as smart as us. Besides, they're living creatures."

"So what?! I heard they're okay with being treated as pets! If that's true, then they should also be okay with being treated as slaves!" With each word coming out of his mouth, Coral's grip on her glass tightened. "In fact, while we're at it, we should go to that auction that's going to take place soon in the woods nearby. From the direction of this destructive path, we might see that dark mage there too."

"Wait, there's an auction going on soon? Where'd you hear that?"

"A buddy of mine who's in a bandit group told me. Apparently the person hosting it managed to snag one of those creatures. And a really powerful one at that from what he heard."

"Whoa, wait! There's no way you're getting me involved in it! If it's as strong as you say, then who knows what would happen if you release it!"

"Why and how would it be released? It'll be stuck in a cage! I may not be a bandit, but it will be amusing to watch one of these things suffer."

A crack was heard. Everyone in the building turned and saw Coral's clenched, left hand, blood dripping from it and glass shards underneath the hand. She slowly turned to the two boys, sending them an icy cold glare.

"An auction, you say? Tell me then. Where exactly is it taking place?"

* * *

Back with the retrieval group, those in the air looked around down below for any sign of the ninjas. As they were flying...

"I know you have your gynophobia but... is this really necessary?" Cordelia asked her passenger. Riding with her on Scar were Lon'qu and Salamander, the latter in between the two humans.

Yeah... as much as he wanted to get on Avian when he had the chance, Salamander may have already dragged his trainer onto the Skarmory, since his tail flame didn't seem to be bothering the Armor Bird Pokemon that much, compared to the Braviary, the pegasus, and the horse. Not only that, but the myrimdon placed his partner in between them and scooted back away from the girl.

"It doesn't bother your Pokemon that much, does it?" he asked back, looking down below them. "And don't look back."

"It's not that it bothers me but... don't you feel uncomfortable or insecure back there? Especially with Salamander's flame lit tail. No offense," Cordelia said to the Charmeleon.

"Mel," the Fire-type shrugged off, understanding what she meant.

"You just focus on the steering."

Unamused with the tone Lon'qu was using to his trainer, Scar may have had an evil idea in mind to get him to do as Cordelia pleases. Before the passengers knew it, Skarmory shot upwards at high speed, surprising them and their fellow flight people.

"Cordelia?!" Sumia gasped.

"That doesn't look good," Tharja simply stated.

Higher in the sky, Cordelia was clinging onto Scar with Salamander clinging onto her and Lon'qu trying not to fall off without clinging onto either.

"Scar! Scar! What are you doing?!" the rider demanded. "Bad Pokemon! Bad bird!" To Lon'qu and Salamander, she added, "He... shouldn't be like this from what I heard." She then felt the Armor Bird leaning to the right, down to the surface below. With a whispered "Oh no...", Scar dove down at high speed to where the trees were. Quickly pulling up before hitting solid ground, Scar then skewed past each trees and/or flew over or under any other obstacles. "Scar, what are you doing?! We're all allies! Are you trying to force us off?!" Scar went back up and started spinning in the air at high speed. "And now the spinning. You really want us off, don't you?" Cordelia sarcastically asked.

"Stop this crazy flying!" Lon'qu shouted, quite frightened by the crazy flying. Yes. Lon'qu was actually scared. Well, 'scared' is a strong word for someone like him. More that his heart jumped out of his chest more than once as Scar was doing so. "I swear to you, bird, I'll do anything if you don't make me puke!"

As if hearing and believing in his words, Scar quickly whipped his back upwards, sending Lon'qu upwards.

"Lon'qu!" Cordelia cried out in worry. Next she knew, Scar dove down once more. While Cordelia tightened her grip around her new Pokemon, Salamander was not as quick and slipped off her. However, he quickly latched onto the Skarmory's metal tail feathers. As soon as he did, Scar pulled up and caught Lon'qu on his back... right behind Cordelia.

After seeing the result of that flight, Cordelia let out an "Oh".

Lon'qu looked up and, after realizing what the bird had done, froze.

There was an awkward silence. Even Salamander, who was still hanging on to the metal tail feathers, didn't dare make a sound.

"Uh... Are you... okay, Lon'qu?" Cordelia asked.

"I am... just fine..." he managed to answer.

At this point, Avian and Sumia's pegasus flew up to their level.

"Yo! What's with all that-?!" Gaius stopped himself when he saw the scene before him. "Oh... Feel sorry for you."

"Well, while you guys were doing all that crazy flying, we spotted Kai and his Pokemon team down there," Tharja informed, pointing down to where the ninja in question was, pinned down by his team.

"YOU IDIOTS! LET ME GO BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!" he shouted. "IF NOTHING IS DONE, CORAL MAY DIE!"

Chomper looked at his team and was saying something in his language that only they understood. Something along the lines of how their trainer should calm down and have more belief for the blue kunoichi, in which they all agreed.

"Kai! Hey!" Ricken called, as Maribelle's horse caught up with them.

"My! Don't you ninjas ever slow down for anything?!" Maribelle questioned. "You, especially, shouldn't just run off like that! What would happen if you got ambush?!"

"Ambush?!" Kai instantly perked at that word... And not in a good way. "LADY CORAL MIGHT BE AMBUSHED AT A TIME LIKE THIS! WE HAVE TO HURRY UP AND GET TO HER!"

"Calm down, you oaf!" The girl hit him with her parasol, unintentionally knocking him out with a large bump on his head. "Oh dear... I didn't mean for that to happen."

Ricken simply laughed nervously while Sonic remained on his head and Flora used Grassy Terrain in the small part of the area, assisting in healing the ninja. The mage and his Bug-type Pokemon heard flapping and looked up to see the rest of their group landing on the ground to join them.

"Any sign of Coral?" Gaius asked.

"No. We managed to catch up with Kai though, as you can see," Ricken answered.

"If I recall, there should be a rest stop not far up ahead. If Coral wanted information, she might stop there first," Cordelia informed.

"Then we should hurry before it's too late," Sumia urged.

With that plan, the retrieval group ran on ahead, with Kai's Mienshao dragging the red ninja by the leg.

* * *

There were good news and bad news when they arrived at the rest area. Good news: they found the horse Coral took. How did they know? The saddle had the Ylisstol sigil. Bad news: they arrived too late. Good news for that: Coral wasn't hurt; she was alive and well. Bad news with it... Let's just say Coral made her own mission and didn't leave a single trail as to where she had gone.

"Well... she was certainly in a rush," Tharja could only say.

"In a rush?! Look at this place! It's a mess!" Sumia exclaimed.

Cordelia looked at two dead bodies in the middle of the mess. "It must be quite a fight she was having," she said.

"You call that a fight?!" came a voice behind the counter. The team walked over and saw the bartender hiding in fear. "It was a torturous manslaughter!"

"HOW DARE YOU-?!" Kai was cut off by Gaius putting a candy in his mouth.

"Can you tell us exactly what happened?" the sweet-toothed thief asked.

"What's there to tell?! That girl came in for some water! Those two guys were talking about magical creatures and she just went and kill them!" the bartender said.

"Hang on. You said 'torture' earlier," Lon'qu recalled. "Was she getting information out of them?"

"I don't know! All I remember were those two screaming!"

"This is getting nowhere!" Maribelle said. "At this rate, Coral will be off to who-knows-where and may get herself killed. And we won't be there to help her because we don't know where she is!"

"There is one way we will know," Tharja spoke. Everyone's attention went to her. "I need a cauldron. Or at least a big pot."

Minutes later, Tharja was in the middle of the store with a large cooking pot, whipping up what seemed to be a potion of some kind.

"Are you sure this is all necessary?" Gaius asked, he and Sumia returning from their trip to gather some ingredients Tharja needed.

"For this spell to work? Yes," the Plegian mage answered, taking the materials from the thief and the pegasus knight's hands and dumping each of them in, mixing in between. "Now I just need one more ingredient." She looked over to the two bodies.

After a few seconds of silence, the Shepherds in the area wondered what she was looking at them for.

"Well, don't just stand there," she spoke at last. "Someone cut out an eyeball and an ear."

"WHAT?!" they all gasped.

"It's the only way for this spell to work. And the most efficient."

"And you can't do it yourself because?" Cordelia asked.

"I don't have a sharp tool. And both ingredients have to be from the same person." At that answer, those that can use a sword or a lance looked at each other while everyone else distanced themselves from the five.

A few rounds of rock-paper-scissors later, Kai was the unfortunate one to cut out one of one of the deceased's eyeballs and ears. Yes, he may be a ninja, and yes, he may have done missions that included cutting human bodies in more ways than one, but that didn't mean he was used to it.

"Here's the... eyeball and... ear..." he said without shouting for once, holding out the organ to the dark mage.

"Don't give it to me. Put it in," she said, pointing at the cooking pot.

Instantly obliging, Kai tossed them both in, moving away to avoid the splash. The moment the final ingredients were placed, the pot was boiling at a rapid pace. Tharja waved her hands above it, muttering some kind of incantations, with Muma muttering with her... in her own language that is. Several chants later, an image appeared, showing Coral with her blood-covered sword in her usable hand.

"P-Please stop! I-I'll talk, I'll talk!" came a voice, no doubt from the first person's point of view.

"Then tell me already. Where is that auction taking place?" the kunoichi demanded.

"N-Northeast! Northeast from here! I-If you follow the line on this map, you'll see where!" The guy handed Coral a folded map. She took it and studied the map before pocketing it. "N-Now... you'll let us go, right?"

"I can... But I don't want anyone there to know I'm coming." Next they knew, Coral swung her sword at the poor soul, ending the scenes there.

To say they were shocked at what they saw and heard would be an understatement. They knew Coral was quite desperate, so to say, but to go this far? They never thought she would ever.

"Hey! You know where that auction is?" Gaius asked the bartender, who was still trembling behind the counter.

"N-No..." he answered. The group grimaced at the response.

"At least we know what direction," Ricken said. "Northeast, he said. Let's send some of our Pokemon ahead to scout the area." They agreed with the boy and ran to the direction Coral should be, with their flying/floating Pokemon going on ahead of them.

* * *

It became late at night hours later. Somewhere in the woods, there were men gathering and tents up. These men were bandits, thieves, mages... people who were looking forward for an even that will happen minutes later.

One thief was by himself, away from the group as he leaned against a tree. A dark figure came behind him and covered his mouth, before he could struggle and fight back, the figure stabbed him in the chest, right in the heart. Feeling the body limp, the figure quickly dragged him into the dark woods, hiding the body. The figure then emerged, wearing the cloak the thief was wearing.

' _All right. Infiltration is a success,_ ' Coral thought, bringing the hood up and face mask over the lower half of her face. ' _Now all I have to do is wait for the auction to start. In the mean time, there's that dark mage to look out for._ ' The kunoichi looked around her surroundings, being cautious with the people around her.

Each person spoke of what Pokemon, or magical creature, they would see in the auction, especially the final item. Of what she was hearing, it was a really strong Pokemon, one that looked like a dragon or a dinosaur, based on what they were saying. No one knew exactly what it was, only that it was powerful.

Minutes later, the group all gathered deep in camp, where the auction was taking place. Up on stage, a cloaked figure appeared. "Welcome, one and all, to the auction. Now, before we begin, you must have heard of a dark mage using magical creatures to cause havoc across Ylisse, possibly to conquer the continent or to take down the Shepherds, because the dark mage is a Plegian. Well, some of that is true. How would I know?" She removed her cloak, revealing herself to be. "That dark mage is me."

' _Aversa!_ ' Coral thought, tempted to get her sword out and instantly kill the Plegian before her. However, if she were to do that, she would be risking the lives of the Pokemon Aversa had under her control.

"If any of you think that this auction is a fraud to gather you all around here, to kill you all or to recruit you, for those of you thought the latter... you're half right," Aversa said, to everyone's confusion. "You will join... if you have a partner. And I think you all know what I mean by that. That's why I'm calling this an auction. Those of you who ends up with a magical creature will join me and live to see the next day. Those who don't... Well, you might as well run now, if you wish to see the end of the day at least. Now, that being said..." A covered cage was wheeled to the front, with what sounded like clanging noise within. "How about we see what we have here tonight? I tested each and every one of these magical creatures, saw their true power, and I know... after this is over, at least one of you will end up with at least one of these beasts."

"For our first creature..." Aversa removed the covers, revealing an elephant-like Pokemon with a thick, black band of hide running down the length of its back and extending to the tip of its long trunk and long black ears. The creature also had chains on his legs, preventing him from escaping or doing its specialty. "It doesn't look like much, I am aware. But this creature can curl up into a ball and destroy many trees and houses. Its hide so hard, nothing can stop it once it rolls! Starting bid is fifty gold!"

"Fifty-five gold!" shouted one bandit.

"Sixty gold!" shouted another.

"Sixty-five gold!"

"Seventy!"

"Seventy-five!"

"Eighty gold!"

"Sold to the one-eye bandit!" Aversa quickly accepted. The cage was then brought off the stage as another covered cage appeared on stage where the previous one was. "The next creature has eyes unlike any other! Try as you might, you can never hide from it! And if you can't hide, who is to say that your enemies can?!" She removed the covers to reveal a black and blue lion-like Pokemon with a yellow four-pointed star on the tip of its tail. Like the previous Pokemon, its legs were also chained "Starting bid is seventy!"

"Eighty gold!"

"Ninety gold!"

"One hundred gold!"

"One thirty!"

"Sold to the scar-nose thief!" Aversa ended.

It went on like this for some time. As time passed, after the Donphan and the Luxray, Aversa showed a Beedrill, a Ferrothorn, a Staraptor, a Walrein and a Cacturne. Coral tried so hard to endure the scene before her, to wait for the right moment to reveal herself, kill Aversa, the bandits and thieves around her, and free the Pokemon all at once. She mentally cursed herself for not bringing one of her Pokemon... again.

"And now for the final creature!" Aversa announced. All the bandits and thieves became quite giddy at those words, as another cage, one bigger than the rest, came onto the stage. "This one... is not like the rest. They say the pen is mightier than the sword. This creature, in a way, puts it in literal terms. Never have I ever seen such deadly attacks from something like this. At first when I laid my eyes on this creature, I thought nothing can stop it. Until an acquaintance of mine found a way to bypass its deadly strikes."

Each sentence coming out of her mouth was making them all more eager to know what Pokemon it was. Some shouted at her to hurry it up and show them the most powerful Pokemon she had in her possession.

"Meet... the deadliest magical creature known to man." Aversa removed the cover and... so to say, they were unimpressed. All except Coral that is.

In the plastic cage, was a small, wet, white origami. The mere sight of it brought jeers to the audience.

"Is this some kind of joke?!"

"Where's the super powerful magical creature?!"

"Bring out the real deal!"

"Show us the real weapon!"

Instead of showing panic or any sign of nerves, Aversa kept her calm smile. "You want to see its power? Then can I have a volunteer join it in this cage? How about you there? The one with all that muscles."

A muscular bandit scoffed at the tone she was using. "Nothing but talk. But I'll humor you, and make you feel even more embarrassment." He walked up on stage and to the cage.

' _That idiot! He has no idea what he's getting himself into!_ ' Coral thought, gritting her teeth.

As soon as he entered the cage, with Aversa securely locking the door, the bandit walked closer to the incredibly dangerous Pokemon. "Hey tiny! Wake up already!" He smacked his arm into it, knocking it into a wall. The other bandits and the thieves outside laughed at the scene. "Where's that great strength the chick was talking about earlier? I guess it was nothing but talk to get us all interested. But there is nothing special about a weak, little squirt like you!" Just as he was about to stomp it, the great, deadly unexpected happened. To most that is.

The creature suddenly moved away from its spot. The muscular bandit was shocked at its speed. Before he could look around to find the small Pokemon, he felt something cut into his flesh and more. Looking down, he saw his arm was cut off. Registering the pain, he held the wound and let out a painful scream. Many outside the cage looked on in shock at what had happened. The Pokemon, on the other hand, wasn't done yet with him. With its extended green-glowing arm, it rushed at him at high speed and cut his calf, forcing him on a knee. It u-turned and struck again, cutting off his other arm and left a slash mark on his chest. It tormented him even more, giving him more cuts as he pleaded for it to stop and spare him. After half a minute, it decided to end his pitiful life instead, extending both arms and making them glow light blue. Next thing everyone knew, it cut him in two.

It was silent. No one said a word or made a sound. Before Coral knew it, the bandits were all cheering by what they saw.

"Now, after that little show, why don't we get back to business?" Aversa said. "Starting bid for this creature is-"

"Five hundred gold!"

"No, six hundred!"

"Six hundred fifty!"

Coral couldn't believe that the audience was still willing to continue this auction like so. After they saw what the Pokemon, Kartana, did, they should be scared. Besides, the creature didn't have a collar- Wait a second.

' _None of the Pokemon so far have those collars around their neck,_ ' the kunoichi noticed. ' _How was Aversa able to control them then? Even if she is giving them away, if she was using a spell on the Pokemon, they couldn't possibly be willing to take orders from the bandits, could they?_ '

"And what about you back there?" she heard. Looking up, she saw Aversa's attention on her. "You haven't placed a price at all during the whole auction. Surely you've been saving up for this moment."

Sensing the bandits' eyes on her, Coral knew that one wrong move could cost her. Then again, what was the point? It was clear that Aversa knew who she was.

"Maybe it's because... I'm not here to buy any Pokemon," she answered. In a flash, she took Sword of Kusanagi out and started to cut down one bandit after the next. However, she wasn't fast enough, as the enemies all piled themselves on top of her and kicked the sword out of her hand and away from her.

"He was right, about you coming here," Aversa said, walking over to the blue ninja.

"'He' who?!" Coral demanded.

"No one that important. You, on the other hand, must be both foolish and reckless. Coming here, injured. What were you hoping to do, exactly? Did you really think you can stop me without back up?" Aversa knelt down to her level. "How about I make you a deal? You hand your magical creatures over to me, and you can roam free. You can even stay a while longer and watch as they get sold off to the remaining bandits here." Said group all liked the sound of the idea and hoped that Coral agreed to it.

"Go to hell," she said instead. "Besides, even if I do have them, I would rather give up my life before that happens."

"Stubborn. Kind of admirable. Not at the cost of your own life, sadly." Standing back up, Aversa ordered the men to search her for her Pokeballs. After doing just that, the guys came up empty.

"There's nothing on her but the sheath and these weapons," one of them said, holding up said sheath and Coral's tools.

It didn't take long for Aversa to process what he said, as she then let out a laugh. "So... you mean to tell me, that not only did you come here with a broken arm and no reinforcements, but you also left your magical creatures behind?! I've seen fools, stubborn and stupid, but this? He didn't say you were this foolish."

' _Again with this 'he'?_ ' Coral thought.

"Hmm... But what should I do? I suppose I can bring you to him, but that will ruin his plans. I don't want that to happen. At the same time, I don't want you to walk out of here alive, and yet I can't kill you, for it will upset him," Aversa then said.

"Okay, who the hell is this 'him' you keep talking about?!" the blue ninja demanded.

"Like I said, no one important." Hearing that answer while looking at that annoying smile on her face angered Coral even more than before. "More importantly, just what will I ever do with you?"

"How about you let her go?!" came a shout. Everyone looked up but before they could see who the source came from, they immediately ducked from a powerful Flamethrower attack, avoiding the flames. Those who were on top of Coral, however, weren't lucky as they took a direct hit and were forced to get off her, running around to put out the flames on them.

"What?!" Aversa looked back up and saw a pegasus and two big birds making their way to her. On their backs were the calvary.

"Hang on, Coral!" Sumia shouted. "Avian! Charge in with Aerial Ace!" Her Braviary squawked in agreement as he charge in at high speed, with Tharja on him.

"You forgot I'm on him!" she shouted, clinging on to the Valiant Pokemon. As soon as she managed to see him strike down a few thieves, she jumped off and prepared an Elthunder spell, electrifying some nearby bandits.

Up above, Lon'qu, Salamander and Gaius leapt off their ride and joined in the fight. Sound of horse steps was heard, as Maribellle, Ricken, Kai and their Pokemon entered the fray as well.

Coral picked up her sword and saw Aversa was wide open, charging in in an attempt to land a fatal blow. Unfortunately, the Plegian seemed to have seen it coming and managed to avoid the strike. She brought her fingers up to her mouth and let out a loud whistle. Then, descending from the sky was a black pegasus.

"A change of plans indeed," she said. "Oh well. There's always next time." As Aversa snapped her fingers, the chained Pokemon were release from their prison. But, something was wrong with them. They all were clutching their heads in pain.

While this confused many, Coral knew what it meant. She knew but, she didn't see a collar on them so how? ' _How is she controlling them now?!_ ' she thought.

"What's happening to them?!" she heard Ricken ask.

Coral ran to the cages they were locked in, trying to find out how Aversa was controlling them. Before she could inspect them all, however, the Pokemon stopped clutching their heads and opened their now-glowing-red eyes. Next thing the kunoichi knew, the Ferrothorn unleashed a Power Whip, breaking its cage and knocking some bars into her in the process, as well as damaging the other Pokemon's cages. The rest of the intelligent creatures broke out of their cells as well and were on a rampage.

The bandits, whom were once interested in their abilities and powers, were now scared out of their wits. A few who bought at least one of them as a slave tried to command them to stand down or attack the Shepherds, hiding their fear as they did so. Alas, whether it was because they noticed the fear or they were under someone else's control, no one knew, but the Pokemon that were given the commands... brutally attacked and killed their so-called masters. Seeing this left the rest of them in fear as they tried to run, causing the Pokemon to pursue them. Before the otherworldly creatures can attack them, though, they were intercepted by the Shepherds and their Pokemon.

"You may be bandits, this is not how you die!" Cordelia said.

"GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!" Kai told them.

The bandits happily obliged to the loud ninja's words and ran away from the scene.

Maribelle rode her horse over to Coral's side. "Coral! Are you okay?!" The duke's daughter got off her ride and proceeded to heal the girl, with Flora being the lookout for any Pokemon's attacks.

"I'm fine," the blue ninja said, grimacing at the pain.

"No, you're obviously not fine!" Maribelle argued. "I don't know why I bothered asking. Hold still." She used her healing staff to heal Coral's wounds.

"Those Pokemon are being controlled. I don't know how, but Aversa is controlling them somehow!"

"Well we can't go after her; she's already gone!"

"I know that!" Coral looked at the scene before her, wondering how she can find out who the Pokemon are being controlled like so.

"Seems Bubbles was right about the Pokemon being controlled," Gaius said. "Sunshine! Get working on breaking this spell!"

"Don't tell me what to do," Tharja answered, knowing he was referring to her. Calling Muma over, the Misdreavous floated over to her and pulled out what seemed like a thick spell book out of nowhere. "Back me up! Give me some time to find a spell that can break this!" Muma nodded at the command and blocked any and all attacks that came their way.

' _There's no way it was a spell,_ ' Coral thought. ' _There has to be something messing with their heads. But what? What could it be that's controlling those Pokemon and not the Shepherds'?_ ' The girl looked around, wondering and searching for whatever machine was doing this. She saw nothing around them and was starting to think that maybe it was a spell Aversa casted. Just as she thought that, the Luxray rushing towards them, fangs glowing with Crunch.

"Look out!" She tackled Maribelle down, managing to save them both from getting hit. In the process, as she watched the Electric-type run past her, she saw something in its ear. It seemed like a hearing aid, but she knew better than to assume that.

The heavy footsteps was heard and Coral looked and saw Donphan rushing at them with a Take Down. Managing to grab Maribelle with her good arm, she got them both out of its way. Like with Luxray, the ninja noticed a hearing aid-like device in its ear.

"Their ears!" she shouted. "Aversa put in something in their ears to control them! Take it out!"

The rest of the Shepherds heard the message and got to work. Tharja, who was looking for a counter-control spell, now started to flip the pages for a binding spell, making it easy for them to help the Pokemon without getting anyone hurt.

"These Pokemon aren't making it easy for us to hold back on!" Ricken exclaimed, countering Walrein's Blizzard with his Elwind, or at least weakening it, while Sonic tried to get a jump on it with Sonic Boom. The Ice Break Pokemon must've sensed the attack coming because it moved away from the attack and fired an Aurora Beam at it. The Yanma managed to avoid the attack with Detect. This was followed up by Kai's Mienshao using a palm attack to try to paralyze it. Despite the damage inflicted, Walrein didn't back down and used a close-up Brine on the Fighting-type.

"We have to try!" Cordelia said, as Scar moved to the side and avoided Staraptor's Aerial Ace. "Swift!" The Skarmory then fired yellow stars from his mouth at the fellow bird Pokemon, who used Brave Bird to knock it all away and struck the Armor Bird Pokemon. Cordelia almost fell off from the impact but managed to still cling on and stay on her partner.

As she looked down, she saw Lon'qu and Salamander were having a hard time with Ferrothorn, even with Kai's Garchomp's assistance, especially as it swung its spiky feelers. As the Charmeleon breathed out a Flamethrower and Chomper sent a raging sandstorm its way, Ferrothorn spun via using Gyro Ball, deflecting both attacks and knocking the opposing Pokemon and Lon'qu down. The Thorn Pod Pokemon didn't stop there as it turned back to land a fatal blow on the myrimdon. "Look out!" The Pokemon Rider took her Javelin that was on her back and, with such precision, tossed it down, hitting the Steel-type on the side, hard enough to make it narrowly miss Lon'qu.

"You have my thanks," he shouted, getting back up on his feet with Salamander and Chomper.

With Sumia, she and Avian were having a bit of problem with the Beedrill. It was so fast, especially with it was using its Acrobatics. And since it wasn't holding any item whatsoever, the damage it was causing was quite powerful, enough to take down some trees. Kai's Crobat was giving them as much assistance as possible, but even with his faster speed, Beedrill was using Agility to match the Bat Pokemon's.

"It's really fast! Almost as fast as Kai's bat!" she said, with her Braviary nodding in agreement. "Okay then, let's try this! Aerial Ace!"

The Valiant Pokemon took it to the skies, before coming back down to Beedrill at high speed. Likewise, Beedrill met that attack with Acrobatics again, its needles out in front of it while it was spinning. The two attacks collided, cancelling each other out. Without giving the Bug-type a chance to recover, Sumia came from behind and was about to smack it down... when it suddenly disappeared.

"What...?" she gasped in shock, looking around the area. Unknown to her, Beedrill appeared behind her and was about to strike the fatal blow with Twineedle. And it would've succeeded in doing so, if Kai's Crobat didn't get in its way. But since it wasn't fast enough to brace itself from the impact, the Bug-type move knocked him into Sumia, hard enough to force her off her pegasus.

Gaius was down below with Trevenant aiding him and Klefki and saw the girl falling. "Stumbles!" He rushed to where she was going to hit the ground and managed to cushion her fall. "You alright?"

"Yes, thanks to you," Sumia thanked, getting off her savior.

They both heard a neigh and looked up to see Sumia's pegasus flying down to them, with Avian and Crobat holding off Beedrill. The winged horse pressed its face against Sumia's in worry and concern.

"I'm okay, girl," she assured. The pegasus knight got back on her flying mount. A small cry was then heard and Sumia and Gaius looked up in time to see the thief's Klefki get knocked down by Cacturne. Trevenant was not far from them, looking heavily injured for some reason as it was on its knees(?) and panting.

"Lock!" the sweet-tooth Shepherd cried out in worry. At the same time, Cacturne's arms glowed as it ran straight towards the Fairy-type. Just as it was about to slam them down at it, Gaius blocked the attack with his sword. "Leave my buddy alone!" He pushed the Scarecrow Pokemon away. Looking back at Sumia, he asked, "Mind if you can get Lock to Maribelle?"

"Of course!" the pegasus knight nodded. She scooped up the Key Ring Pokemon and rushed over to their only healer as fast as possible.

Looking back at the Scarecrow Pokemon, Gaius said, "All right, green and spiky. Let's dance."

Meanwhile, with Coral's group, Kai and his remaining team, Exploud and Galvantula, joined them in trying to hold back Donphan and Luxray. As they fought, Coral looked around, wondering how everyone else was doing. As she looked, however, she noticed something.

' _Wait... Something's not right,_ ' she thought. Looking around at the other battles, she couldn't help but feel like something was forgotten. As soon as her eyes came in contact with the plastic cage and the shredded, dead body in it, she realized what was forgotten. ' _Hang on. Where is it?!_ ' While she was worried over that, Luxray unleashed a Wild Charge at her.

As soon as Kai saw that the Electric-type was going to attack his fellow ninja, he got in the way of the attack and blocked it.

"LADY CORAL! WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO DOZE OFF!" the loud ninja told her.

"I'm not! That Pokemon... It was here!" she corrected, confusing the boy.

As she frantically looked around, she saw something white at the corner of her eyes, where Tharja was. The moment she saw a glow, she knew what it was and rushed over to the Dark Mage.

Tharja had just found the binding spell, when she was pushed down to the ground. She looked up, about to berate who pushed her, when she felt some blood splattered on her face and clothes. Standing there, where she was, was Coral, clutching her stomach, where Kartana jabbed both its arms deep in her with Guillotine. Because of the move, its arms extended... to the point where they were sticking out her back. Despite this, despite the fact that she should've died right then and there, Coral held on to life and the small Pokemon.

"Now's... your chance..." she managed to say, coughing out some blood. "Its ears... Get it out..."

Snapping herself out of her shock, the dark mage quickly did as told and picked the struggling Pokemon's ears for the device. Once she felt it on one side of its head, she immediately took it out. The moment she did, Kartana ceased its struggling and reverted back to normal. It slowly looked up at the blue ninja still gripping it.

"Are you... back to your... normal self...?" she asked. It slowly nodded. A small smile formed on her face at the response. "That's... goo..." Her grip slackened and Coral fell on her side.

"Coral!" Tharja shouted. Hearing that shout coming from the cold dark mage, everyone looked and widened their eyes in shock as they saw Coral's state.

"Oh no!" Cordelia shouted. Unfortunately that distraction was enough for the controlled Pokemon to land a strong blow on them.

Sumia, Maribelle and Flora both rushed to the fallen ninja's side. Kartana slowly undid its attack and slowly pulled its arms out of Coral.

"Coral, you fool! What were you thinking?!" the healer demanded, getting to work on healing her wound. Coral gave no answer. "You better not have died, do you hear me?!" Again, no answer was given.

Sumia feared for the worst. "Maribelle... I think-"

"Don't you dare say it, Sumia! Robin's plans never ended with anyone dying, and it's not going to start now!" Tharja exclaimed, watching as Maribelle desperately tried to close up Coral's cut.

Kartana just watched at the scene. Though its expression was unknown to many, it was quite worried for the bleeding girl lying before it. It was about to fly closer, to see if it can do anything to help, when both Flora and Muma came in front of it, saying that it had done enough, brainwashed or not. Hearing those words didn't take it long enough to know what it meant. Since it was brainwashed, it didn't remember what had happened, how it got from its cage to the soon-to-be, if not already, dead girl.

Knowing that it wasn't the only one affected by the brainwashing, especially by how odd the other Pokemon were acting, Kartana decided to redeem itself by helping the other Shepherds. And so, it used Aerial Ace to get to each controlled Pokemon, flying by each their head as it did so. After the short flight, it was right back where it started and all the Pokemon ceased their attacks on the Shepherds, looking around in confusion.

"What the-? What just happened?" Gaius asked in confusion.

Kartana let out a sound, bringing many's attention to it as it held up the many control devices.

"It seems that Pokemon did the hard part for us," Lon'qu simply said. Salamander nodded its head in agreement.

"Coral!" Cordelia cried out, jumping off Scar as she ran to the female ninja's side. This reminder snapped everyone else out of their confusion, as they gathered around, watching and hoping Maribelle can actually save her. So far though, nothing has changed.

"Come on, Coral. Don't you dare die!" Maribelle told her.

"LADY CORAL! YOU MUSTN'T DIE!" Kai shouted.

"Open your eyes, Coral!" Ricken called.

"Coral, focus on our voices! You have to live!" Cordelia said.

With each words, each plead, coming out of their mouths, Kartana couldn't help but feel even more guilty for what had occurred. As Flora and Muma said, brainwash or not, it was the one at fault for what happened to her.

* * *

 _ ***MEANWHILE, WATCHING FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION***_

"No!" Arceus shouted. "How could this...?" After he sent Coral to Ylisse, he had been watching over her ever since. There were times where he wanted to help her, but he knew that if he had done so, Coral would never forgive him. She never wanted his help in the first place. How else would she react if he helped her when he didn't help her family? Her home? Even if...

"What should we do?" Dialga asked.

"Should we even do anything?" Palkia followed.

Though Coral's anger towards him may increase, Arceus didn't care. He had to. After all, he promised. "'We' don't have to do anything. I will." He started glowing and his many plates appeared. He gathered energy from each type and glowed even brighter.

* * *

 _ ***BACK IN YLISSE***_

No matter how hard Maribelle tried, she couldn't do anything about the injury. Everyone feared the worst when they saw their only healer giving up on trying to save Coral. Some teared up when they realized she was far gone. Others didn't seem like they wanted to accept it.

Suddenly, the necklace around Coral's neck began to glow, as it floated out of its hiding place under her shirt. As soon as it was out, the body began to glow. All the Shepherds' attention were on her, hope returning.

"Maribelle, whatever you're doing, don't stop," Cordelia told her.

"I'm... not the one doing this," the duke's daughter said.

Hearing that surprised everyone as they wondered how Coral was glowing like so. As they watched, they saw the cuts on her stomach and back getting back together and healing up. A scar may be formed, but that didn't matter to them. What did matter... was that Coral was going to live.

Soon enough, the glow died down. Coral felt her conscience returning and slowly opened her eyes. "I'm... alive...?"

Those two words were enough to tell them all that she was, indeed, living. Those that were emotional were so happy, they all hugged her tightly, crying tears of joy. While Coral was also happy she was alive, she was also confused. She knew she should've died from that attack, and yet, she was living. Her eyes laid upon the pendant she was wearing and she realized who it was that saved her. Upon that realization, she didn't know what to feel. On one hand, she was happy that she was alive, that Arceus wasn't a cold being and that he really did care for the people. On the other hand... it was proof that he could've saved them.

' _You saved me... You saved me and yet... Why didn't you do the same for them?_ ' she thought. ' _You might as well leave me to die, Arceus..._ '

"Coral. Are you okay?" Sumia asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Y-Yeah... Just can't believe I'm alive," she half-lied.

"Naga must be watching over you to pull off this miracle," Ricken said.

"That I must agree with," Maribelle nodded.

"I'm just so happy to see you alive!" Kai cried, hugging the kunoichi.

"Yeah..." Coral clutched her pendant, wanting to crush it, remove it, bury it, do anything to get it away from her. But a part of her didn't want to, for it was what she had left of her brother. Her brother... back at home, without any knowledge of what was happening to her.

* * *

 _ ***BACK WITH ARCEUS'S GROUP***_

"Arceus... Are you sure this is okay?" Dialga asked.

"I may have failed him, but I will keep the promise I made," the god of all Pokemon answered. "I'll keep watching over his granddaughter, protecting her, now and from this moment forward. Whether she wants it or not."


	5. The Poachers and the Mons

**Hello to all of you wonderful readers out there! Here be the next chapter of Pokemon Emblem: Awaken the Ninja! I can guess that some of you may be wondering when this story will get the the Valm Arc, all I can say is that it will be AFTER I paired up the Shepherds for the future kids. Now, unlike the previous chapters, this one will not be focusing on Coral. No, not me, the OC. But, I assure you, it will still be enjoyable.**

 **Now then, let's start this new chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or Pokemon. I also do not own the opening.**

 **Oh, and because of how this chapter will go...**

"Human talking"

"Pokemon talking"

* * *

 _ ***OPENING***_

 ** _(Instrumental)_**  
 _(Grima had his clutches on a fallen Ylisstol. He opened his mouth to reveal a colorful orb that split into different color lights. A map of Ylisse appeared in the background and the lights all landed on different places. Camera zooms in to the blue light)_

 _ **It used to feel like a fairy tale**_  
 _ **Now it seems we were just pretending**_  
 _(Lucina is seen walking in the woods with her mask on_  
 _A strong wind blew and removed the mask from her face._  
 _Lucina turned and saw her friends behind her, whom all disappeared as Roxy appeared in their place)_  
 _ **We'd fix our world**_  
 _ **Then on our way to a happy ending**_  
 _(Lucina and Roxy continued to walk in the woods, unaware of Coral watching over them as she took her leave.)_

 _ **Then it turned out life**_  
 _ **Was far less like a bedtime story**_  
 _(Scene changed to Ylisstol in the castle, where Chrom and Robin danced in the throne room_ _)_  
 _ **Than a tragedy**_  
 _ **With no big reveal of the hero's glory**_  
 _(Camera zoomed in on Chrom's mark. Color changed and camera zoomed out, changing the scene to Lucina facing Grima_ _)_

 _ **And it seems we weren't prepared**_  
 _(Scene changed back to Coral in her burning village, her family standing before her.)_  
 _ **For a game that wasn't fair**_  
 _(Camera zoomed around them and replacing Coral's family was a cloaked man, with six shadowed Pokemon by his side)_

 _ **Do we just go home?**_  
 _ **Can we follow through?**_  
 _(Scene changed in Plegia, as camera moved from Aversa, to Validar, to a cloaked Plegian in Robin's clothes to Grima behind them.)_  
 _ **When all hope is gone,**_  
 _ **There is one thing we can do**_  
 _(The Fell Dragon let out a loud roar, summoning many Risen by their side, all who charged in to fight)_

 _ **Let's just live!**_  
 _ **Day by day and not be conquered by our sorrows**_  
 _ **The past can't hold us down**_  
 _ **We must break free**_  
 _(Chrome and Gladiknight fought against a pair of Risen Chief, with Robin and Sparky providing backup_  
 _The Shepherds all fought against Risen of the same class as them in pairs, with their Pokemon fighting alongside them)_

 _ **Let's just live**_  
 _ **Just one day let's forget about our problems**_  
 _ **Let's fall in love with life**_  
 _ **And just be free**_  
 _(Scene changed again to Lucina's friends from the future, all fighting off against their own Risen)_  
 _ **The sun will never fade**_  
 _(Lucina and a boy wearing the same cloak as Robin's killed a chief together)_  
 _ **The night won't steal our day**_  
 _(The scene changed to the future kids in the peaceful woods, looking at the camera)_  
 _ **Let's laugh and dance and love and let's just live**_  
 _(Scene changed again to Chrom, Robin, and Coral looking at the sky from their castle balcony, with the title appearing)_

* * *

It had been several days since Coral went on her foolish 'solo mission' and almost died trying to achieve it. Since then, she was holed up in her room, recovering from the near-death experience or coming-back-to-life experience. It wasn't just because there were guards out her room, both in the castle (humans) and out (bird Pokemon), but also because she wanted some time alone to think, to try and make sense of what was going on. And it wasn't just about Aversa.

' _He saved me. Arceus brought me back from the dead,_ ' she thought, lying on her bed. ' _If he can do that... then why send me and my friends here when he can just save the lives of everyone else back home?_ ' She turned to her side, her eyes now focused on the map hanging on the wall. During the past days, Coral's Pokemon all went out to do some missions in her place. Of course, they didn't go alone; they were allowed to bring a few Shepherds with them for assistance on the job. Sometimes when they would return from the mission, the Pokemon would bring back any information regarding Aversa, her suppose accomplice, or anything that's out of ordinary in the world, besides the Pokemon themselves that is.

Slowly getting up from her spot, she made her way to the map and read the few added information put there so far.

"'Sighting of a swift shadow hidden in the woods. Pokemon?'" she read. "'Woman on a black pegasus seen capturing Pokemon,' 'Pokemon rampaging sighted'." As much as Coral wanted to go out and find Aversa as fast as possible, as much as she didn't want to admit it, she still had yet to be fully recovered from the Guillotine to the gut. Not only that, but a certain personal guard wouldn't let her out if she wanted to.

Speaking of, the room was getting quite stuffy for her. The blue ninja went to open the windows and let some fresh air in. The second the doors opened, something flew up from below. If it were anyone else who didn't know what it was, they'd be scared out of their wits. But Coral knew what it was. Or rather, who.

"I'm not going to run away. It's not like I can do much in my situation in the first place," she said.

"Kartana!" it exclaimed, crossing its arms.

"If you really think that I'm stupid enough to not know of my limits, I'll have you know I'm quite aware of what my own limits are."

"Karta!" Kartana pointed at the windows.

"It's stuffy in here, in case you haven't noticed. I need the fresh air every once in a while."

It was hard to tell since it didn't really have eyes, but of what Coral could see, Kartana must be looking into her eyes to see if she was lying. After confirming that she spoke the truth, it settled itself on the window, sitting there and watching her in case if she thought of escaping later. Seeing this, Coral couldn't help but let out a sigh.

' _I wonder how everyone else is doing,_ ' she thought.

* * *

 _ ***MEANWHILE***_

Everyone else in the Shepherds were out doing their own thing, taking their one-day-a-week off from training with their Pokemon partners. At first they were surprised to hear that they would get a break, until their ninja seniors all reasoned that too much training wouldn't do much good for their mind and body.

One pair, however, wasn't as excited as the rest about having that day off.

"I still can't believe the day we're finally off from our duties was the day the rest of the Shepherds weren't going to train," Robin said to Chrom.

"I know. I was looking forward to training with them too," he agreed. "After these last few days of sitting at the council and attending to royal business, I was looking forward to finally sparring with some of them."

The two newlyweds were by a lake near Ylisstol, deciding to spend the day of relaxation there. With them were their Pokemon, who had done as much work as their trainers, especially while they were on their honeymoon. Both Gladiknight and Sparky were lying on the grass, under a tree a few feet away from their trainers, taking a nap from the long work they had done.

"Yeah. But this is nice, too," Robin told her husband. "A day to ourselves. No one else around to bother us. No danger lurking around."

Chrom was starting to see her point. "Yeah. I could actually use this nice day of peace." As he said that, he wrapped his arm around Robin's waist and puller her closer to him, making her lean on his shoulder. He then leaned his head on her's.

A smile formed on Robin's face, followed by a slight blush. "C-Chrom. Our Pokemon are right there," she said, glancing at their sleeping partners.

"It's not like we're doing anything naughty. Unless... you want to," he playfully said.

A blush formed on Robin's face when those words. She playfully hit him and turned away. "My, don't use such misleading words~!"

A chuckle escaped Chrom's lips. "Hahah. Sorry."

Unknown to them, as Robin had previously worried, both Gladiknight and Sparky were actually awake and watching the interaction. A smile formed on their faces when they saw how relaxed their partners were.

With the lovebirds, they heard something emerging from the lake. Both looked and saw a pair of flat, pink Pokemon with pale pink lips looking at them.

"Are those Pokemon?" Robin asked.

"They must be!" Chrom said.

The two Pokemon looked at each other and nodded. Looking back at the royal couple, one of them sent hearts above them while another blasted the center of the group of hearts with a small blue ball. The ball exploded and the hearts all scattered around Robin and Chrom, both who were impressed with the display. As they both looked at each other, neither knew what came over them, but they leaned closer to each other and kissed.

Gladiknight and Sparky, who knew what Luvdisc symbolize and can do, at times, sent thumbs up to the two Water-types. The Luvdisc smiled and made their leave.

As soon as they left, the Gallade and the Pikachu looked over at the lovebirds still kissing each other. Seeing them get heated up like so was suddenly uncomfortable for the two as they looked away. Just as they looked away, however, they felt something suddenly hit them. Holding to the area where they were hit, they each saw a dart sticking out of their body. Next they knew, they suddenly felt drowsy and succumbed to a forceful nap.

"Heh. Can't believe how easy it was to capture those two magical creatures," came a voice. Hidden in the woods near them were a pair of poachers. One short and full of himself and one big and shy looking.

"I don't know about this, Big. Are you sure about this?" asked the big and shy one.

The shorter one scoffed at the worry. "Shortie, did you really just miss me darting those two magical creatures over there? This is easy stuff. I don't know what those other guys were making a big deal out of. It's like taking candy from a baby. Now help me get those two to the cage." With a hesitant nod, Shortie grabbed the two Pokemon and dragged them away, completely oblivious to the pair of trainers still making out a distance away from them.

* * *

After the... time of love between them, the sun was starting to set and both Chrom and Robin finally snapped out of the apparent effect of the Attract move one of the Luvdisc cleverly used on them. Once they regained their own conscious, the first thing they noticed were their missing Pokemon.

"Sparky!"

"Gladiknight! Where are you two?!"

They had been searching for half an hour and still hadn't found their partners.

"Where could they have gone?" Robin asked Chrom.

"You think they both went back to Ylisstol without us?" he wondered.

"That couldn't be possible. They should've at least left a note of some sort."

Just then, they heard rustling in the bushes and looked to see Wilbert emerging from them. Following the Pignite out were Bella, Donnel, Nowi and Levia.

"Guys?" Chrom called. His call got their attention as they turned his and Robin's way.

"Your majesties!" Donnel gasped. "What are you two doing here?!"

"We're looking for Gladiknight and Sparky. One minute we were relaxing and the next, we lost them."

"What about you guys?" Robin asked them.

"We're searching for a pair of poachers!" Nowi explained, as Bella took out a piece of paper from the satchel she had with her and handed it to the two royals.

Robin took the paper and saw that it was a wanted poster for the two guys from earlier. "'Poacher Brothers Big and Shortie'," she read. "'Seen capturing Pokemon and selling them off to big clients?!'"

Yeah, ever since that mission Coral almost died in, Robin and Chrom had the Shepherds and all their knights spread word far and wide that any poaching, hunting or auction activity that involves a Pokemon are considered illegal and any one who saw any such activity must contact them immediately. After what happened in that one mission, they'd rather Coral didn't get herself killed again, permanently. Especially with people like Aversa still out there.

"They must've taken our Pokemon while we were distracted!" Chrom realized. What he said, though, he should've been careful with.

"Distracted with what?" Nowi asked.

The two adults blushed when she asked that, not wanting to recall what they were doing a little while ago. Their reaction, however, told Donnel and Bella exactly what they were doing.

"Oh nelly," Donnel said, unsure of how to react to them two. "Uh... Ahem, well... If we can get back to the mission before the poachers escape." That quickly snapped them out of it as they offered some assistance, in which Donnel, Nowi and the Pokemon accepted.

As Wilbert continued to sniff the area with Odor Sleuth, Chrom asked, "how long were you guys searching for these two?"

"We got the job a few hours ago," Nowi explained. "Panne would've come, but she's busy with Kazuki."

"Busy? You mean Yuuki and Kazuto are both out?" Robin asked.

"More like Kazuki wanted to play with Panne. Her Eevee, too."

"Wow. Who'd have thought those two would be that attached to Panne?" Chrom said.

"Panne enjoyed their company, too!" Nowi added in. "Whenever I see her with them, she always have that soft smile on her face."

"Panne? Smiling? I don't think I can see that."

"Then again, ever since she joined us, she seemed to hang around Kazuki more than she does with any of us," Robin pointed out.

"It's true! The other day, I saw Kazuki grooming Panne in her beast form and she liked it!" Nowi added.

"You sure it wasn't because she liked to get groomed?" Chrom asked.

"Nah. Cordelia groomed her by accident the other day... she didn't like it. And Cordelia's a good groomer," Donnel answered. The two adults looked at him in confusion when he said that. "Anubis translated what Scar and some other pegasi told us."

"Jayne told me the other day that Kazuki actually reminds Panne of someone, but wouldn't tell me who," Nowi said. "She said that she promised to keep that a secret."

Now that got the couple interested. They never thought Panne, who claimed to hate humans, would see a human child as someone close to her.

"Pignite!" came Wilbert's call.

"What's up, Wilbert?! You got something?" Donnel asked.

They all rushed to his Pokemon's side and saw tracks on the ground. Horse tracks.

"Looks like we have a lead," Robin stated.

"Yeah. Now let's get our Pokemon back," Chrom said.

* * *

 _ ***MEANWHILE, WITH GLADIKNIGHT AND SPARKY***_

The two Pokemon woke from their slumber and found themselves in a cave of sort, trapped in a cage with a few other cages, each with one or two of Pokemon in them.

"Look at all these magical creatures we got, Shortie," they heard. "You still think this isn't a good idea?" They turned their heads and saw their kidnappers standing at the entrance of a cave.

"I don't know, Big. What if they wake up and escape?" the biggest and more nervous of the two asked.

"Are you kidding? What wild animal has ever escaped from a cage?" the shortest of the two asked back.

"But everyone said these magical creatures are smarter than normal animals."

As they were having their conversation, both Sparky and Gladiknight couldn't help but find it ironic that their names and personality didn't at all fit their appearance.

Big face palmed at his subordinate's timidness. "Shortie, I'm telling you again; you need to have faith in me. Have things ever go wrong around me?" Just when Shortie was about to answer, Big quickly said, "Don't answer that. Now then, all that's left is to schedule a meeting with that guy." The two left the cave.

As soon as they were out of sight, both Gladiknight and Sparky looked at each other. Both knew that the other was thinking of escaping from their suppose prison and tested the cage they were in. After observing the bars around them and testing the sturdiness, they knew what to do.

"Think you can break these bars?" Sparky asked.

"Can't say much about the noise," he answered. It was all Sparky needed as the Gallade used Sword Dance to boost his attack.

"Iron Tail/Leaf Blade!" Both unleashed their called attacks and broke out of the cage. They stayed alert for a few seconds, waiting to see if their nappers heard the noise.

"... Coast is clear," Sparky informed.

"What are you doing?!" asked a Pokemon near them.

Gladiknight and Sparky looked and saw that they were getting the attention of the other Pokemon around them.

"We're getting out of here," Gladiknight answered.

"Why? What's the point of going out there?" asked a beige and green mushroom-like Pokemon, Shroomish. "It's not like this is our home."

"Just because it's not our home doesn't mean we should stay here and wait for those two to sell us like slaves we aren't!"

"That's right! We can't just give up!" Sparky agreed.

"Why shouldn't we give up?" asked a little white and black woodpecker-like Pokemon, Pikipek.

"Yeah, what's in it for us if we go back out there?" asked a yellow and red Pokemon with big, black antennas, Kricketot. "Our friends and family aren't here."

"That doesn't mean there isn't someone else out there for you!" Sparky snapped. "I was like you once. Alone in the world. A simple Pikachu who thinks that there is no one else in the world who would actually care about me. My own trainer abandoned me after we lost one battle, and we were the best of friends. But then I met someone else; a better trainer than him. It was during a battle, sure, but we hit it off quite well and were willing to do anything for each other!"

"It's the same for me," Gladiknight agreed. "After I ran from my trainer and helped my Pokemon comrade escape from him, we went our separate ways after. I had decided to never go to another trainer again, until I met my new partner. He was more just and loyal than any human I've ever seen. When I offered to join him, he didn't want me as just a Pokemon, but as a brother. Don't believe me? This..." He gestured to the shoulder guard he still had on him. Or rather, what was in it. "... is proof of our bond!"

One look at the accessory and the other caged Pokemon recognized what it was.

"Isn't that a...?!" a small, orange mouse-like Pokemon, Dedenne, gasped.

"No way..." breathed out a blue amphibian Pokemon with purple, branching gills, Wooper.

"The proof of our bond is right here," Gladiknight continued. "If we can find someone in this world, a new home here, you all can too! Plenty of Pokemon have already found their new place here. And a lot more have already settled in this new world. So why are you all giving up so easily?"

The caged Pokemon all looked at each other, as if mentally debating if they really should go along. Eventually, Dedenne stepped up.

"I want out of here!" he shouted. "I want to find my own home instead of having one decided for me!"

That did the trick as all the other Pokemon wanted out as well.

Gladiknight and Sparky looked at each other and nodded. "Okay. Now stand back. We're getting you all out of here!" the Pikachu ordered.

Before they could do anything, however, a familiar, unwanted voice was heard. "WHAT?!" The Pokemon turned and saw Big and Shortie standing at the entrance.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Shortie said.

"Shut up and help me get those two back to sleep!" Big shouted, grabbing a dart blowgun. He blew out a dart, which was intercepted by Sparky's Iron Tail.

"I'll distract them! Get them out of there!" he told his comrade.

Gladiknight nodded and gave himself another Sword Dance boost.

Shortie aimed his blowgun at the Gallade. Before he could blow the dart out, though, Sparky quickly shot a Shock Wave at the weapon, surprising him and destroying it.

"Your opponent is me!" he declared in his language.

"Shortie!" Big cried out. "You little mouse! I'll teach ya!" He took a sword from its place on a shelf and swung at the Electric-type.

Sparky, in turn, parried him with an Iron Tail, getting in a sort of sword fight with the poacher.

Meanwhile, with Gladiknight, he unleashed another Leaf Blade attack at the remaining cages, freeing the other Pokemon. Once the crash and clatters were heard, the two poachers looked and saw all the Pokemon they captured free.

"No!" Big cried out, leaving himself open for a hard Iron Tail to the head.

"To freedom!" Sparky shouted. At that shout, all the wild Pokemon ran out of the cave. Shortie thought the shout meant to attack him and ducked for cover. The Pokemon all ignored him and ran out.

Big, on the other hand, wasn't going to let even one of them escape and grabbed Dedenne by the tail. "Oh no you don't! At least one of you ain't going anywhere!"

"Help! Someone help me!" Dedenne cried out.

Sparky acted fast when he heard that cry. "Hey! Leave him alone!" He leapt at the short poacher and struck his hand with another Iron Tail, forcing him to release the Antenna Pokemon.

"Ouch! Damn mouse!" he shouted.

"Run for it!" Sparky then told Dedenne, pushing him out of the cave. The smaller Electric-type ran as fast as he could, with the Pikachu following close to him.

* * *

Back with the Shepherds, they were following the tracks to a huge cart with a couple of horses nearby.

"That has to be the cart!" Chrom said, as they picked up the pace to it.

The group looked inside and saw nothing inside.

"There's nothing in here!" Donnel said.

"The poachers must've taken what was in the cart and moved elsewhere," Robin said.

Wilbert sniffed the area around them with Odor Sleuth and caught the scent of the other poachers. "Nite! Pignite!" he pointed.

"Wilbert's saying they went that way!" Nowi translated.

"Then let's go!" the captain urged.

* * *

Meanwhile, with the Pokemon, mainly Gladiknight and Sparky, the two managed to get as far away from their nappers as possible. With them... was little Dedenne.

"Looks like we lost them," Gladiknight said.

"I don't hear them coming," Sparky informed.

"So we're safe. Right?" Dedenne asked.

"Too soon to say. But in any case, we should head back to Ylisstol and report them to our trainers, if they weren't reported already," the Gallade suggested to the pair of Electric-type.

While Sparky agreed with the plan, Dedenne asked, "Wait! What about me?! I don't feel safe being here alone!"

"Hmm... He's got a point there," the Pikachu agreed.

"This makes me wonder about the other Pokemon. Then again, they all escaped first and are most likely farther away from the poachers than we are," Gladiknight pointed out.

Hearing that last part made Dedenne droop his ears, knowing that if he hadn't gotten caught, they'd also be far from the poachers as well. "Sorry..."

Sparky noticed his reaction. "Hey. Don't worry about it. Look, I'm sure some friends of ours are looking for us. If they find us before the poachers, we can stop them."

"But what if the poachers find us first?"

"There's no 'what if' if that happens," Gladiknight told him. "Should the situation come to it, we will have to fight."

"Fight?! Us?!"

The Gallade and Pikachu looked at the Antenna Pokemon in confusion. "Yeah. What's wrong?" the latter asked.

"Uh... Well... It's just..." Silence fell upon them, until Dedenne muttered out something very low.

"Sorry. What was that?" Gladiknight asked.

"... fight..." he repeated, though just a tiny bit louder for them to only hear the last word.

"What about fighting?" Sparky asked.

Dedenne didn't answer with words and instead sent some electricity to his fellow Electric-type.

"Wait, what?!"

Gladiknight, aware that Dedenne can communicate with other Electric-type with electricity, looked at Sparky in confusion and asked, "What's the problem?"

"Dedenne can't fight," he explained.

This confused him even more. "You mean he doesn't know how to fight or he... doesn't like to fight."

"I don't like fighting," Dedenne answered for Sparky. "It's so violent. I saw a trainer work his Pokemon to the bone and didn't let them take any break at all. And if they lose, he didn't let them eat. Not only that, but if they didn't listen to him, he'd get violent with them... And any trainer he battles, he doesn't let their Pokemon get away with just fainting!" Remembering everything that trainer had done, Dedenne cried tears of sadness and fear.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry, Dedenne," Sparky comforted.

"Yeah. It's obvious that you hung around with the wrong trainer," Gladiknight told him. "A human who treats Pokemon like dirt they aren't are no trainers. If anything, they're not even human."

"Yeah. Our trainers are really nice. And we were in a war once, which may sound bad, but we survived and won. My trainer, especially, is a tactician who always make sure that no one dies in battle."

"But you still fought," Dedenne added in.

"Because we had to, not we want to. We spar from time to time after the war was over, but it was as an exercise. It didn't matter who won or lost. No one got punished for anything."

Hearing that seemed to relieved Dedenne somewhat, as a nervous smile appeared on his face. Seconds later, a growl was heard and Dedenne held his stomach.

Both Sparky and Gladiknight stared at him. "Are you hungry?" the Blake Pokemon asked.

"They caught me when I was going to eat a berry..." he explained.

The bigger Pokemon looked around for a fruit or something to give to Dedenne. Sparky spotted an apple on a tree. "There's one! Thunderbolt!" He used his powerful, Electric-type move and struck the stem, bringing the fruit down to the ground.

"Nice shot!" Gladiknight commented, as Sparky went to retrieve the apple. Dedenne just looked at the Pikachu in awe, as the latter gave the former the food.

"Here. For you," he said.

Quickly hiding his awe for the other Pokemon, Dedenne accepted the apple and thanked him before devouring the juicy fruit. Sparky and Gladiknight both smiled as they watched him eat.

* * *

Back with the Shepherds again, they followed Wilbert to a cave. They had no doubt that it was the one the poachers were hiding in. How did they figure? The place was trashed and there were some broken cages in it, as well as some weapons hung on the walls, as well as some blueprints for traps. Seeing the cages and traps brought bad memories for Nowi and Levia, the former who hid behind Donnel and the latter seemingly becoming cautious with her surroundings in the place.

"Looks like they were here," the farmer said.

"Dusk," Bella nodded in agreement.

"Sparky and Gladiknight must've broke out of here and escaped," Robin said.

"And by the looks of the number of cages in here, they weren't alone," Chrom added in.

Donnel turned to Wilbert, who was sniffing the whole place. "Wilbert. Did you find something?"

Sadly, the Pignite shook his head no.

"There's too many scents in here," Nowi explained.

Meanwhile, Bella stood outside the cave, eye closed and antenna vibrating. Robin was the first to notice this. "Bella, what are you doing?"

"Noir," she gestured the tactician to keep silent. The Dusknoir then raised her arms, summoning ghostly blue fireballs via Will O Wisp. As the sun set completely, she released the wisps, as they flew through the woods.

"Whoa! What are ya doing?!" Donnel asked. "We don't wanna burn down the forest!"

"I don't think that's it," Robin said. "I remember Yuuki telling me once about how the ninjas trained their Pokemon to gather information. I think that's what Bella's doing."

"By using Will O Wisp?" Chrom asked.

Bella's eye suddenly snapped open as the wisps returned to her, each with a person grabbing on.

Everyone was shocked when they saw this.

"What in tarnation?!" Donnel gasped along with his Pokemon.

"People?!" Chrom followed.

"But that can't be!" Robin followed.

"Whoa! Where did these people come form?!" Nowi questioned. Levia stood(?) between her partner and the strangers protectively.

Bella said a few words and made a few gestures to the group of people. They seemed to understand the question as they pointed at one direction. After Bella bowed her head in thanks, she opened the mouth on her torso. The people around her suddenly glowed and were sucked into her.

The Shepherds with her were surprised at what had just occurred.

"W-What just happened?" Robin asked.

"I... I think we just saw Bella eat those people," Donnel answered.

"Bella! What was that for?!" Chrom demanded. "Those were just people! You didn't have to end them like that!"

"Noir dusknoir dusk," Bella spoke.

"She said those weren't people," Nowi translated.

"What do you mean 'they weren't people'?" Robin asked.

As Dusknoir explained what she had meant, Nowi translated what was said. "She said they were lost spirits in this world. People who already died and have yet to arrive to a place called the Ghost World. As a Dusknoir it was practically her job to help send those spirits to the Ghost World."

The humans froze at the explanation given to them, unsure of how to respond to it.

"I-Is this true?" Donnel asked Wilbert and Levia. Both Pokemon nodded in confirmation.

"So... just now... Those were ghosts?!" the tactician gasped.

"Dusknoir noir," Bella said.

"She said there are lots of ghosts in lots of worlds. You just don't see them because they never wanted to be seen unless if bored or angry," Nowi translated.

"Well... That's one thing that's going to be on my mind for a while," Chrom said.

Bella pointed at one direction. "Dusk."

"Gladiknight and Sparky went that way! Same with the poachers!" Nowi informed.

Being reminded of the task at hand, the group went to the direction Bella pointed.

* * *

Back to the trio of Pokemon, they were, unfortunately, found by Big and Shortie. The two humans kept firing at them with capture nets in which they were sure were not of Ylisse.

"I'm starting to get annoyed with who Aversa partnered up with now!" Sparky said to Gladiknight.

"You're telling me! Just how many stuff did this guy bring with him?!" the Gallade agreed.

"Can we talk about this after we escape from them?!" Dedenne asked.

Behind them, the two bandits were firing nets after nets at the three Pokemon.

"For gods' sake! Those magical creatures are too damn fast!" Big cursed.

"Maybe we should give up on them, Big. There are plenty of others," Shortie suggested. "In fact, there are other things we can do. Like become hunters for normal animals."

"Don't make as much cash as these guys," Big simply answered.

The group arrived at a cliff. With nowhere left to run, the Pokemon turned back to the pursuers, ready to fight. Well, two of the three were ready. Dedenne was still quite nervous about the option to fight, but knew there was no other choice in the matter.

Big was elated to see the circumstance. "Well, well, well. Nowhere to go," he said. "Surrender now!" He took out his sword and pointed it at them.

But of course, Gladiknight and Sparky weren't going to go down easily, as they engaged in combat against him.

For someone short and at a disadvantage, the guy was quite unexpectedly skilled with the sword. And it didn't help that Shortie kept firing arrows at them every once in a while. And for a large, timid guy, he had good aim. Dedenne wasn't providing much support, however. In fact, he didn't do much at all; just stayed back and away from the fight going on, where he felt it was safe.

Unfortunately, Big noticed the little guy staying in the sideline and ran at him. Before the Pokemon could register what happened, he grabbed hold of the Antenna Pokemon and placed a knife at its neck. "Okay! Now give up and no one gets hurt!" he threatened.

"Wah! Help me!" Dedenne cried out.

"Dedenne!" Sparky cried out.

"That cowardly bastard!" Gladiknight said through gritted teeth.

"You better stand down. Now!" Big ordered.

Not wanting their little friend to get hurt because of them, both the Pikachu and the Gallade did as told. A smile was brought to Big's face.

"See, Shortie? Like I said, easy as pie," he told the big guy.

"I'm still not so sure, about this, Big," Shortie timidly said.

Hearing that annoyed him. "And why are you still unsure?! We got some Magical Creatures coming with us! All it took was a little hostage!"

Suddenly, a small jolt of electricity came and struck him. Big was shaking a few times before releasing both his weapon and Dedenne, falling on the ground.

"Maybe it's because we're here," came a familiar voice.

Gladiknight, Sparky and Shortie turned to see Chrom and the others standing a few feet away from them. The sight of their trainers before them brought smiles on the Pokemon's faces.

"Robin/Chrom!" both cried out happily.

"I believe those are our Pokemon you have there," Chrom said. "Do you want to step aside or do we have to do this the hard way?" He placed his hand on Falchion as he asked that, with the other Shepherds also getting ready for a possible fight.

Shortie panicked at his question and intention. "W-Who me?! No! No trouble at all! It was all Big! I told him this was a bad idea, I swear!"

"That don't mean you're free from the law!" Donnel added.

"I know. I'll turn myself in, and my brother. I promise."

* * *

After tying up Shortie and his brother, Chrom, Robin and their Pokemon were having a good reunion.

"Pika pi! Cha~!" Sparky leapt into the tactician's arms and gave her lots of cuddles and nuzzles.

"Sparky! I missed you too!" she said.

"Glad to see you're both okay, Gladiknight," Chrom said to his partner.

"Galla," the Gallade nodded, as they did a brother handshake and hug.

Dedenne felt left out, being the only wild Pokemon amongst them. Sparky noticed they were leaving him out and jumped out of Robin's arms over to him.

"Pika pika," he spoke.

"A new friend?" she asked. Sparky nodded in response, while Dedenne tried to hide behind him. Holding out a hand, she assured, "Don't worry. I won't hurt you. My name's Robin, nice to meet you."

Dedenne stayed cautious, sniffing Robin's hand. After seeing that she was as kind as she seemed, he climbed up her arm to her shoulder. "Denne!"

"See? Nothing to be afraid of," the tactician happily told him, in which he happily nodded to.

Chrom approached his wife and the little Pokemon. "Well, isn't he a cute one?" he commented.

Dedenne perked up at the word 'cute' and looked away, blushing and rubbing the back of his head at the compliment.

Donnel, Nowi, their Pokemon and Bella approached the married couple.

"We better head back with Big and Shortie," the farmer boy said, gesturing to their small group. "This was originally our mission. Your highnesses should take the rest of rest of the day to yourselves."

"'Rest of the day'? It's kind of dark for us to be doing much else," Chrom said to the boy.

"Not true," Nowi said, pointing at the cliffside.

Chrom and Robin looked and were in shock and awe at the pretty nightly view of Ylisstol. The lights shining in the darkness, the stars in the sky, it was quite a sight to behold.

"We'll leave you guys to it," Donnel said, as he, Nowi, their Pokemon and Bella took their leave. Gladiknight, Sparky and Dedenne followed them, leaving the two trainers to themselves.


	6. The Search for the Stone

**Here is the next chapter of Awaken the Ninja! This chapter will end up with a cliffhanger because, as it turned out, it had became longer than I had originally planned. But that's okay, because despite the changes, it is still going where I want it to go.**

 **Now, let's start this new chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or Pokemon. I also do not own the opening.**

* * *

 _ ***OPENING***_

 ** _(Instrumental)_**  
 _(Grima had his clutches on a fallen Ylisstol. He opened his mouth to reveal a colorful orb that split into different color lights. A map of Ylisse appeared in the background and the lights all landed on different places. Camera zooms in to the blue light)_

 _ **It used to feel like a fairy tale**_  
 _ **Now it seems we were just pretending**_  
 _(Lucina is seen walking in the woods with her mask on_  
 _A strong wind blew and removed the mask from her face._  
 _Lucina turned and saw her friends behind her, whom all disappeared as Roxy appeared in their place)_  
 _ **We'd fix our world**_  
 _ **Then on our way to a happy ending**_  
 _(Lucina and Roxy continued to walk in the woods, unaware of Coral watching over them as she took her leave.)_

 _ **Then it turned out life**_  
 _ **Was far less like a bedtime story**_  
 _(Scene changed to Ylisstol in the castle, where Chrom and Robin danced in the throne room_ _)_  
 _ **Than a tragedy**_  
 _ **With no big reveal of the hero's glory**_  
 _(Camera zoomed in on Chrom's mark. Color changed and camera zoomed out, changing the scene to Lucina facing Grima_ _)_

 _ **And it seems we weren't prepared**_  
 _(Scene changed back to Coral in her burning village, her family standing before her.)_  
 _ **For a game that wasn't fair**_  
 _(Camera zoomed around them and replacing Coral's family was a cloaked man, with six shadowed Pokemon by his side)_

 _ **Do we just go home?**_  
 _ **Can we follow through?**_  
 _(Scene changed in Plegia, as camera moved from Aversa, to Validar, to a cloaked Plegian in Robin's clothes to Grima behind them.)_  
 _ **When all hope is gone,**_  
 _ **There is one thing we can do**_  
 _(The Fell Dragon let out a loud roar, summoning many Risen by their side, all who charged in to fight)_

 _ **Let's just live!**_  
 _ **Day by day and not be conquered by our sorrows**_  
 _ **The past can't hold us down**_  
 _ **We must break free**_  
 _(Chrome and Gladiknight fought against a pair of Risen Chief, with Robin and Sparky providing backup_  
 _The Shepherds all fought against Risen of the same class as them in pairs, with their Pokemon fighting alongside them)_

 _ **Let's just live**_  
 _ **Just one day let's forget about our problems**_  
 _ **Let's fall in love with life**_  
 _ **And just be free**_  
 _(Scene changed again to Lucina's friends from the future, all fighting off against their own Risen)_  
 _ **The sun will never fade**_  
 _(Lucina and a boy wearing the same cloak as Robin's killed a chief together)_  
 _ **The night won't steal our day**_  
 _(The scene changed to the future kids in the peaceful woods, looking at the camera)_  
 _ **Let's laugh and dance and love and let's just live**_  
 _(Scene changed again to Chrom, Robin, and Coral looking at the sky from their castle balcony, with the title appearing)_

* * *

It was a wonderful afternoon in Ylisstol. The Shepherds were doing some training with their Pokemon partners, either perfecting some combo moves they had thought of or sparring with each other to get stronger.

"Flamethrower!" Lon'qu shouted. Salamander breathed out his flames right at his trainer's sword. The fire swirled around the blade as Lon'qu brought it down on the dummy, cutting it in half and burning it to ashes.

"That's amazing, Lon'qu! It's like a fire sword!" Cordelia complimented, keeping distance from the female-phobia myrmidon.

"Yes. But I feel like it's still in need of improvement."

"Really? Then again, there's always room for improvements. Maybe you'll find out when you spar with a real opponent rather than a dummy."

Lon'qu nodded at the Pokemon Rider's words, knowing quite well what she meant, and, with their Pokemon, went to a good space to spar.

"Elwind!" Ricken unleashed his magic on a pair of dummies, set up with one in front of the other. The magic took down one dummy, and the other dummy was struck down by Sonic's Quick Attack. The Yanma was behind the magic attack. "Yes! Sneak attack worked!"

"Now you just need to try it out on a moving target," Maribelle told him.

"I know that. And I think the best way for that is if we're called to battle. Right, Sonic?" Ricken asked his partner.

"Yanma!" he nodded, landing on his partner's head.

Those that were having trouble coming up with combo moves went to Anubis, Merlin, and Seth for advice.

"So in other words, you want to strike your opponents swiftly like a ninja would," the disguised Zoroark said, helping Gaius and Lock.

"Yeah. And maybe make a dramatic entrance while I'm at it," the sweet tooth thief said.

Seth thought for a moment about the combo Gaius described and had an idea. "Lock knows Fairy Wind, right?"

"Klefki," the Pokemon in question nodded.

"Then there you go. Try improving the strength and intensity of that attack. Do that, not only will it blind you enemies, but it will also send you flying up, giving you the opportunity for a sneak attack. Though, I advise you also work on some landings while you're at it."

"Yeah... Yeah. That sounds like an idea! We'll try that. Thanks Illusionist," the thief said, as he and his partner went to practice on their combo.

"You're really telling me there's nothing we can do to make a combo move like everyone else?!" Vaike asked Anubis.

"Not everyone is doing a combo move," the Lucario said. "Take a good look at them all. Some are doing combos, yes. But others are improving their teamwork. Instead of focusing on one thing, how about you strengthen your bond to the point where you can easily watch each other's backs?"

Vaike seemed to be considering the idea for a second and almost instantly said, "Sure. That sounds like a plan." He then walked away to an empty space in the training area, while Prime just stared at his retreating figure, face palming for his simpleness and small brain.

"You really do have it rough, don't you?" Anubis asked the Primeape.

"Prime," he simply answered.

"Well, not much you can do now, other than be the best duo out of everyone here. Both in strength, and in teamwork." Prime nodded at his advice and followed after his trainer.

"Her flames have gotten too strong to handle, you say," Merlin said, helping Sully and Nala.

"Our teamwork's been going well but... lately Nala's Flamethrower got too strong for her and I don't know why," the cavalier explained.

Taking a sip of his tea, the Alakazam telepathically answered, "Sounds like she's getting close to it."

"It? What 'it'?"

"I know we explained evolution to you all, correct?"

Hearing that got Sully excited. "Wait. You mean the kit is going to be a full grown lion soon?!"

"Just a little more training, maybe a battle or two, and I think she'll reach her full potential."

"Yes! Hear that, Nala?" Sully looked down at her Litleo. "You're going to evolve soon!"

"Leo!" Nala said, just as excited about the thought.

"Now come on! We still have some more training to do!" And so, they also went back to the training grounds for some more training in.

While this was going on, there was one Pokemon watching the scene in jealousy. Jack stood off to the side, arms crossed as he observed the three Pokemon giving advice to the Shepherds about what to do. Being a Weavile, he knew things about teamwork as well and had some suggestions for each member about how they can work with their Pokemon and what sort of combination attacks they could do. But, since he can't speak human and the only human-speaking Pokemon are busy helping the Shepherds already, he couldn't get a good word in.

Not wanting to feel any more useless than he felt, he walked away.

* * *

Walking around the halls with nothing to do, Jack wondered if there was anything that he can do around the castle. No new missions had been sent in yet, and Shepherds were training on their own, so he got nothing to do.

"Aaaahhhhh!" Until now.

Jack ran to the source of the scream. Upon arriving at the front entrance of the castle, he saw Olivia, hiding as a red bird Pokemon with black stripes was surrounded by a trio of bandits.

"Hold still, you damn bird!" one of them shouted.

"Yeah! We're just going to cage you up!" another shouted.

Jack was going to go in and stop them when the unspeakable happened. As one bandit went to trap it in a cage just its size, the bird slid under the cage and kicked upwards in his adam apple, causing the guy to choke badly, holding his throat. The mon then got on his back and, with flaming feet, kicked him back down and started dancing around his body, kicking its feet hard enough to keep him from standing.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Get this stupid bird off me!" he cried out.

"Idiot! Don't let that stupid bird get to you!" The first bandit was about to catch it in a bag, when the bird jumped over the attempted catch and landed a flaming kick in the face. The kick instantly knocked him out and made the guy lose a few teeth.

It then shook its hips and circled its arms around each other, generating more flames on its wings. The remaining bandit noticed this and gulped, unsure if he wanted to capture it. Steeling up any courage he had left in him, he charged at the birdie with a net. The Pokemon threw its wings forward, firing a stream of flames from them at the last bandit, burning him and knocking him out. At that final knock out, the Pokemon let out a few more dance moves, ending with a pose, consisting of it raising one wing, crossing the other around its chest, looking at one side, and letting out a sound similar to an 'ole'.

Those watching were in awe at how the bird defeated the bandits with style and applauded for it. Jack himself was impressed and clapped along with them. He looked to the side and noticed one person wasn't clapping, but she was definitely in awe with what she saw.

Olivia gazed at the dancing bird before her. The way it danced with such confidence, such grace, she was amazed by it all. She, herself, loved dancing with such passion, but she didn't have much confidence in her skills, and she never thought of doing anything like dance-fighting before.

Determined, though a bit shy, she approached the Pokemon, as some nearby guards arrested the three bandits. "E-Excuse me!" she called out to it, getting its attention. "Y-Your dancing just now... It was wonderful! I am at lost for words! I'm a dancer myself, but I'm still learning. By any chance, can you teach me your ways?!" At each word coming out of her mouth, Olivia felt her face heating up a little.

Meanwhile, the bird Pokemon just stared at the girl with narrowed eyes. Thinking that it was testing her, Olivia tried to put on her best determined face. The staring contest went on for quite a while... until the Pokemon broke the silence.

"ORIO!" It frantically jumped and flew away from her.

"Oh! Wait, please!" she cried out.

Wanting to help the dancer, Jack jumped on some stalls to get to the fleeing bird. Once he was at the same eye level as it, he was prepared to use Metal Claw to knock it down. The Flying-type had other plans, though, as the second it saw the Weavile, its feet glowed the same white color. The two attacks collided, parrying each other away.

Eventually, the two of them ceased their standstill and landed on the ground, staring each other down. This brought another crowd to form around them.

Jack unleashed a Blizzard, intending to slow it down some or limit its movements. This turned into a backfire, as the wild Pokemon did the dance it had done earlier, making flames emerge from its feet and wings as it prevented the attack from freezing it. As soon as Jack ceased his attack, the red birdie unleashed flames from its wings once more. The Weavile responded to that attack by blocking it with a Metal Claw. Once the attack was completely deflected, he used Hone Claws to both boost his attack and did a little flamenco dance steps, catching his opponent's attention. Jack tilted his head slightly and smirked when he saw the Pokemon's eyes widened, obviously impressed with his steps. Upon seeing that smile, though, the bird narrowed its eyes and straightened its pose, challenging him to a dance off.

The air around them got tense. No one around them dared make a sound. Eventually, it was the bird Pokemon that made the first move, charging at the Weavile at high speed, wings glowing. Jack meet his opponent with his Aerial Ace. Both deflected each others attacks once more, this time with such finesse. As they fought, it seemed more as though they were dancing with each other. The audience were mesmerized by the scene, especially Olivia, who seemed more inspired by them than before.

"I was wondering why all these man-spawns are gathered here. I had assumed it was because of you," came a new voice.

Olivia turned and saw Panne, Jayne, Kazuki, and Yasu approaching. The child was riding on the taguel's shoulders while the Eevee was on the Lopunny's head.

"Hi, Olivia!" the little ninja waved.

"Eevee!" Yasu followed.

"P-Panne, Kazuki?!" she gasped. "I-I thought all the Shepherds were training with their Pokemon?"

"Jayne and I just got back from helping Nic with his mission. After that, Yuuki and Kazuto were off on a mission of their own and asked me to watch over Kazuki," the Lopunny trainer explained.

"Oh? How did the mission go?"

"In all honesty... I wish to crawl in a hole and die." Olivia became both confused and concerned at the answer. She looked over to the child, hoping that she would know what Panne meant, as the taguel practically tells her everything.

Kazuki, noticing the stare, said, "She wouldn't tell me what happened."

"Pun punny," Jayne said to her trainer.

"Shut up! I've never been more embarrassed in all my life! Besides, if I didn't want to give humans a chance, I would've left the second the war was over!"

Frightened as she was, Olivia couldn't help but be curious at what happened in the mission.

Kazuki, a bit hurt by what Panne said, looking down at her, teary-eyed, and said, "I thought you were okay with us now..."

Panicking slightly, the taguel quickly told her, "Of course I'm okay with you. I said 'if' I wasn't. But I am okay with you."

"Oh. Okay!" And instantly, the child was cheered up.

Looking at them, Olivia couldn't help but think, ' _They're like a mother spoiling her daughter. I best not say that out loud, though._ '

"So, what's going on over here?" the tanguel asked the dancer.

"Huh? Oh. Well..." Olivia looked back at the pair of Pokemon dancing.

Panne and her Lopunny also looked at the scene before them. "Isn't that one of those ninja's Pokemon?"

"It's Jack! And an Oricorio!" Kazuki identified.

"Huh... I never thought that they could also dance well."

Olivia couldn't help but nod in agreement.

Back to the dance battle, the bird Pokemon was doing another flaming dance, in which Jack met the flames with an Aerial Ace and Metal Claw combo. Once he passed the flames, he brought his claw to the wild Pokemon's neck. Seeing that whatever move it would make wouldn't help it, the wild Pokemon admit defeat. Jack stepped back and bowed, causing the crowd to applaud for them.

Once the audience separated and went back to their normal activity, Olivia, Panne, Jayne, Kazuki and Yasu approached the duo.

"Jack! That was amazing! I didn't know you could dance!" the dancer exclaimed.

Jack blushed a little at the compliment and said something in his language.

"He said it wasn't really dancing," Panne translated, bringing confusion to Olivia and unknowingly hit Jack's sensitive point. "He said he was merely adjusting to Oricorio's fighting style. Adjusting to his opponent's style of fighting is what he does best."

"I never knew..." Olivia said. "But it was still an amazing sight. Although... why did you fight it?"

Jack said something in response to the question, in which Panne translated, "'You wanted to partner up with it, don't you?'"

At that question, the dancer blushed. "Huh?! W-Well... that's- uh... I-It's okay if it didn't want to be with me! I mean... I would understand why..."

Jack said something else. Panne translated, "'It wasn't that it didn't want to be with you.'"

Olivia looked at him in confusion, until Jack pointed behind him, where the Oricorio was hiding behind him, trembling at the sight of the human, tanguel and bigger Pokemon. It didn't take the three long to know its true nature.

"Y-You're shy?!" the dancer gasped.

"C-C-C-Coro!" it cried out.

"You don't have to apologize for it," Panne told it, confirming the question.

"Punny ny," Jayne stated.

"Yes, indeed, Jayne. This Oricorio would make a perfect partner for Olivia. They're both shy, and they're excellent dancers-"

At that comment, Olivia blushed furiously and exclaimed, "T-That's not at all true! I-I do like to dance, but I'm not that good at it..."

"That's not true," Kazuki said. "Olivia, you're an amazing dancer!"

The Pokemon nodded their heads in agreement.

"They're not wrong, you know," Panne also agreed. "Besides, if you ask anyone in the Shepherds, they would also agree that you're quite a dancer."

Olivia blushed harder at the comment. "A-A-Anyway, why are you here?!" she asked Panne in a panicked tone. "I-I'm sure you have other things to do than be here!"

"We all got curious with what was going on over here," Kazuki explained. "Earlier we were doing... window... window shopping?" She looked down at Panne, wondering if she got it right.

"Yes, that's right," the taguel confirmed. "But more importantly..." Panne turned to Jack. "What's wrong Jack?"

"Wea?" he asked in confusion.

"You don't need to pretend in front of me. I can hear your heart beat. You're bothered by something."

Jack looked down, feeling both ashamed and embarrassed that she found him out so easily. Knowing that lying would get him nowhere, Jack told her what was on his mind.

Panne nodded along as he explained his situation. "I see," she spoke.

"What's wrong?" Kazuki asked.

"Apparently, lately, many of the adult man-spawns go to some certain Pokemon of the ninjas for advice on their teamwork and partnership with their partners. The problem wasn't because they went to them when they could've figured it out themselves how to resolve their problem, but that the Pokemon they went to were the only Pokemon that could talk or translate what their partner say in human language. Jack has some ideas as to what they would do as a combo or how they could improve, but because he couldn't speak human, they never thought about going to him. And even if he does tell the Pokemon they go to to share his ideas, with how they are often crowded by the Shepherds and the soldiers, he never found a good time to talk to them about it," Panne explained. "If I recall, your specific kind usually work in groups, correct? I suppose I can see why you feel useless."

"Weavile," Jack said.

"What about Coral? Wouldn't she understand? She's your trainer, isn't she?"

"Vil vi wea."

"Oh yeah, she is still on recovery house arrest."

"But still, it's so sad. To know that you can't really tell what you want to say," Olivia said, almost pitying the Dark-type Pokemon.

"I know how it feels," Kazuki added, also knowing how the Weavile felt. Back home, she wanted to do whatever she could to be of use to her adopted parents. She had plenty of ideas at times, but the adults didn't take her seriously enough until she had done them on her own and proved them to be effective.

"Weavile..."

"You really want to wish for that? To be human?" Panne asked, repeating what Jack had said. At his nod, Panne couldn't help but look away. After a few seconds, she reluctantly said, "There is one way..."

Hearing that brought their attention.

"A way? To what?" Olivia asked.

"I've only heard rumors, so I can't say for sure if it's true or not. But I have heard many years back that there was a group of taguel who tried to create a beaststone that can change them into humans. However, no one knew if it was a success or a failure." To hear that there was such a magical stone was a surprise for them.

Jack made a sort of suggestion to Panne.

"Huh? Go find it?" she asked and repeated. "Well, I have heard of where it is, but I don't know for sure if it even exists. A small handful of my kind either died or went missing trying to find out if the stone exist."

Jayne placed a hand on her shoulder and said a few things with a confident smile.

"I suppose that is true. At that time you guys weren't around..."

"We should go!" Kazuki exclaimed.

"If we are to go, you are staying," Panne told the child. "I promised your parents that nothing will happen to you, and I intend to keep that promise."

Jack told the taguel something in his language.

"Huh? 'She's going to follow us anyway'?" Panne thought back to when they had fought against Gangrel and recalled that even though Kazuki was being watched by some of the wounded pegasus knights, Phila included, the child still had gone and joined them in the battle. The kid even went as far as to convinced the knights to join. Seeing that there was no other way to convince Kazuki to stay, Panne gave in. "Fine. But stay close to me or Jayne."

Elated that she got to come along, Kazuki nodded.

"I-I'll come too!" Olivia insisted, to their shock. "I mean... I haven't done much except dancing lately. I want to do something to help you guys! I can even watch over Kazuki while you guys fight!"

"And what about Oricorio?" Panne asked her. "If you were to come with us without forming some kind of bond with it, I'm sure it will go back to the wild."

The dancer hesitated at the question and glanced at the Dancing Pokemon in question. The taguel wasn't wrong in saying that Oricorio will take its chance to leave, but Olivia really wanted to be of help to her friends.

"I-It's fine," she answered at last. "Like I said, I don't mind if it doesn't want to be my partner. We just met after all. I shouldn't force it to do something it doesn't want to do."

As much as they wanted to convince Olivia that she could stay and bond with the bird Pokemon, they could tell that nothing was going to change her mind.

"Very well. Meet me at the entrance in an hour. We'll need to pack some things for the road ahead of us," Panne instructed.

* * *

Meanwhile, with Coral in her room, Robin paid her a visit and told her of Nic's mission.

"The villagers were grateful that Nic, Panne, Jayne, Gregor and Rhyno stopped the Risen. I still can't believe that these monsters started coordinating attacks this time," the tactician informed.

"If this is Aversa's work, I wouldn't be surprised," Coral said. "If she and whoever she's working with can force the Pokemon to do their bidding, who's to say they can't do it with the Risen?"

"I suppose so."

Coral took a sip of some tea a guard brought in earlier. "And? How's everyone else?"

"They're all doing great in their training. The other ninjas went on some missions. Except Kazuki, that is. Yuuki got Panne to watch over her. We have some more Pokemon coming in. Some of them went to the Pokemon for help with how they can improve their friendship and teamwork and are doing well after that."

The kunoichi froze when she said that. "Pokemon as in...?"

"Seth, Anubis and Merlin, of course. The only Pokemon that can speak communicate human," Robin specified. Upon seeing an uneasy look on her face, the tactician asked, "Is there a problem?"

"Somewhat. You see, Robin, of the many Pokemon on my team, Jack is the one who knows more about teamwork than any of us. It's in his nature. Weavile often work in groups and have great teamwork. When I met Jack and his group, they were having trouble with a tyrant of the land they were in that wanted to enslave Pokemon." Robin gasped in shock when she heard of this. "I know, it was horrible. Jack had plenty of ideas as to how to dethrone him, but no one in his group nor any other Pokemon would listen to him. When he joined us, he gave some ideas from time to time, mostly for teamwork purposes."

"What are you saying?" Robin asked, wondering why she was telling her of Jack's past.

"Jack would do anything to be heard. I both fear and worry how far he'll go to be noticed and get his voice out in this world."

Just as she said that, Kartana appeared from the window. "Karta!" Looking its way, the Ultra Beast of a Pokemon flew in with a note in its arms.

"A letter for me?" Coral asked, taking the piece of paper from it. Robin also looked and... instantly grew confused with it.

"This... is all just claw marks," she said.

"They are. This is Jack's message," the ninja informed. "It's difficult for some Pokemon to write a message to us, so instead, we ninjas come up with some methods for them to send us messages some other ways."

The tactician was impressed with this and instantly thought of having the ninjas teach the Shepherds and the soldiers ways to have their Pokemon send messages.

* * *

After an hour of preparation, Jack, Panne, Jayne and Olivia set off to the place where Panne heard the stone was suppose to be. According to the taguel, the stone they were searching for should be in a cave, which is in the woods past the Breakneck Pass.

As the group walked, Panne's ears twitched, hearing something behind them. She didn't need to look back to know who was following them. Likewise, she didn't feel it was necessary to make its presence known.

After a couple hours of walking, they arrived at Breakneck Pass and started making their way across. One little problem...

"What a time to face the Risen," Panne sarcastically said. Yes, they ran into a group of Risen. Consisted of myrmidon, soldiers and archers.

"It doesn't look like they'll let us pass that easily..." Olivia said, back-to-back with the taguel, as she had a shaken grip on her iron sword. Kazuki and Yasu were both hidden between the two adults.

"And it doesn't help that we're low on weapons and Pokemon." As Panne said that, one of the archers fired an arrow, in which Jack deflected with a Metal Claw. Jayne followed it up with a Quick Attack to the gut and a Dizzy Punch immediately after, defeating the Risen.

A myrmidon charged at Olivia with a sword in hand. The dancer blocked the strike and managed to push it back. She then swing her sword to give it a good cut. However, all she did was nick the undead soldier. Before it could swing its weapon at her again, Panne, in her beast form, leapt over Olivia and dealt a critical, killing blow.

"You okay?" the taguel asked.

"Y-Yes..." the dancer answered.

Jack looked around and saw that there were too many Risen around them. The Weavile mentally beat himself up for being this selfish, to ask Panne to lead them to the stone that was said to turn him human. He should've just let the matter slide. And now, because of the lack of people they had on this quest, they will most likely...

"Hey!" shouted an unfamiliar voice.

The group looked up and saw a tall, muscular barbarian of a man with a wild and aggressive appearance. He has a long face with pronounced cheekbones, and pronounced, hairless brow ridges, green eyes and long, stringy black hair. A long, thin scar ran down the left side of his face and across his left eye. The guy had on a samurai-like robe-coat, white bandages across his midsection and a sleeveless white haori which has a ragged look to it. He styles his hair into stiff spiky strands and wears a black eyepatch over his right eye. The eyepatch is slightly elegant, having a gold-like lining and a chain as one of the straps. He also wore a black choker necklace.

With him were a pair of creatures. One of the two was a brown bear with a yellow ring on its chest and long white claws. The other was a black and white, bulky, armored creature. One look at the two of them, and the Shepherds knew those two were Pokemon.

"Pick on someone your own size!" the barbarian shouted. "Razor, Wrecker! Let's go!" The two Pokemon nodded at the order and jumped down to join the battle.

The bear Pokemon let out a ferocious roar before rushing at a few Risen, with a few orange streaks trailing behind him. The brute force knocked the monsters away and into a boulder, destroying it and knocking them down and out.

The armored-looking Pokemon had his claws glow and extended, clawing at any and all nearby Risen.

The man with them took out an unusual sword and cut Risen left and right. The blade was chipped and quite rusty, yet still quite sharp enough to kill some of the undead.

Relieved as they were that help came for them, the Shepherds kept their focus on the battle, planning to question the newcomers once the fight was over. Some time in the fight, though, a Risen soldier was going to get the jump on Kazuki, who was hiding behind a boulder with Yasu by her side.

Just as the taguel charged at the enemy myrmidon, she noticed the soldier going to attack Kazuki and Yasu. "Kazuki! Look out!"

Olivia, who was near the two, looked up and saw the undead jumping from a cliff above the child and baby Pokemon, in an attempt to run his lance through. The dancer rushed to their direction to either block or take the hit herself. To some miracle, something came and intercepted the attack. That something then cut the Risen in half, destroying it.

When it landed, Olivia widened her eyes in shock at the sight of who her savior was. "You're... Oricorio?"

Indeed, standing between her and the dead Risen was the Dancing Pokemon, her wings glowing.

"I thought you didn't want to come," she said.

Oricorio looked her way with determined eyes. Next thing the dancer knew, it picked up a sword lying on the ground with its feet and flew past her, blocking a strike from a myrmidon behind her. While the Risen was wide open, Olivia quickly took the chance to strike it down. Concluding that things will be explained later, she brought her focus back to the fight at hand.

After the battle was over, ending in their win, Jack, Panne, Jayne, Kazuki, Yasu and Olivia approached their set of newcomers.

"Um... Thanks for helping us out earlier," Olivia timidly thanked.

"Don't mention it," the barbarian said. "Besides, those guys were kind of in my way in the first place."

"Who are you?" Kazuki asked.

"Name's Varrick. Varrick Volus. These guys are Razor and Wrecker. Razor's the bear and Wrecker's the armored dino. At least, I think he's a dino. I don't about the bird though."

The two big Pokemon greeted the girls and Jack.

"To be more specific, they're Ursaring and Aggron," Panne identified.

"N-Nice to meet you... I'm Olivia. This is Panne, Jayne, Kazuki, Yasu, and Jack," the dancer greeted.

"And the bird?" Varrick asked.

"An Oricorio. We met with it earlier today," Kazuki explained. To the Pokemon in question, she asked, "Why are you here?"

The Dancing Pokemon looked over at Olivia and said some things.

"She said she had been watching you dancing since she arrived in our world, even back when you were in Ferox," Panne translated. Olivia immediately blushed when she heard the Pokemon was watching her. "This Oricorio apparently wanted to be your student just as much as you wanted to be its'. However, just as you are shy of people, so is she."

"B-But that's... uh... I..."

Oricorio said a few more things, in which Panne informed, "And now she's asking if she could be your student."

To say she was shocked would be an understatement, for Olivia was blushing in a red color and was trying to find words to express whatever feeling she was having.

On the side line, Jack whispered something to Jayne about having a de ja vu of the situation, in which the Lopunny nodded in agreement.

"In any case, man-spawn, we thank you for your assistance. Now if you don't mind, we have some place to be," Panne said, as she went on ahead to their destination.

"You can't be thinking about going that way," Varrick said, causing her to freeze in place.

"And why not?" she asked.

"Just came from there. If you guys can't beat the Risen that were here without us, you're better off turning away from that direction."

Hearing that there were Risen in their destination made Panne narrow her eyes. "If that is true, then why didn't you get rid of them before arriving here?"

"I don't deal with weaklings. All that's there are those live puppets and more soldiers."

"Those Risen are on sacred grounds of the taguel! How dare you wave it off as though it is a joke?!"

"Didn't say it was a joke. But it has nothing to do with me. Fighting chumps like those won't help me get stronger."

Panne gritted her teeth, wanting to berate him even more for his own foolishness, until Kazuki held her hand and Jayne placed a paw on her shoulder and told her to just forget about him. Reluctantly, the taguel did exactly that and walked, with the others following. As they walked, both Olivia and Jack couldn't help but look back at the barbarian, for different reasons. For the dancer, she couldn't help but feel like she had met the man before. For the Weavile, he felt as though the man was hiding something, but wasn't sure what it was.

* * *

After they were out of Breakneck Pass, true to Varrick's words, they could see Risen roaming around in the woods.

"How come there are so many?" Olivia asked, frightened at the number.

"I'm not so sure. There shouldn't be anything here that could be of importance to the Risen," Panne said. "Then again, it's not like we actually know much about these things."

"What do we do?" Kazuki asked.

Jack looked around the area, a plan forming in his head. "Weavile," he spoke.

Panne turned to him with a brow raised. "You have a plan?"

Nodding at the question, he blended in with the shadows and snuck away from them.

"Jack! Where are you going?!" Olivia asked in a whispered tone.

"He said, he has a plan," Panne told her, looking back at the Risen. The dancer and the remaining two Pokemon with them also looked and watched as the Weavile relentlessly killed off the Risen like a skilled assassin, swiftly using Metal Claw to behead a few of the revenants, sneaking some in the bushes or trees and killing them off there, as well as even slitting the throats of some Risen soldiers.

"I've forgotten. Ninjas are basically assassins," Olivia said.

"If we do find that stone, I fear what it would do to him should it succeed," Panne said.

After killing off the Risen in the area, Jack signaled the girls to come out.

"Wow, Jack! That was awesome!" Kazuki exclaimed.

"Eevee vee!" Yasu agreed.

Jack smirked and blushed a little, rubbing his nose with the back of his claw.

Panne looked on ahead and listened closely to any and all sounds around them. "... Sounds clear enough. We should be able to reach the entrance from here without encountering any other Risen," she informed.

The others nodded in agreement and followed her through the woods. Unknown to them, they were being watched.

* * *

Some time during the walk, the group noticed that the deeper they went, the weirder the woods were. At first, it started with some trees having claw marks and missing some barks, then some trees with some broken branches, and then trees that were either ripped out of the ground and tossed or were broken in half. There were also some unusual footprints and claw marks on the ground.

Seeing this frightened Kazuki and Eevee. It didn't help that the sun was starting to set either. Noticing this, Panne went into her beast form and offered the two a ride, in which they gladly accepted.

"I can't help but notice that you're much closer to Kazuki than you are with the rest of us," Olivia spoke, wanting to do something about the silent walk. "Is there... any chance you can say why?"

"Why so curious?" the transformed taguel asked back.

"Well, it's kind of unusual. I heard about how your first meeting went with them, and yet you're okay with Kazuki. Is it because she's a child?"

"My reasons are my own." The dancer was sad to hear that she couldn't get much out of her companion.

"But I want to know, too," Kazuki said. "You're always cold to almost everyone else, but you're okay with me and the other ninjas."

Panne went silent. If she was in her human form, they could see that she was conflicted with whether or not she should tell Kazuki the reason.

"... Maybe when we get back," she said at last.

Olivia couldn't help but drop her jaw in shock at the reply, expecting the taguel to say no. Kazuki, on the other hand, was okay with the answer.

' _She must have a soft spot for kids,_ ' the dancer mentally concluded.

Just then, the taguel's ears twitched and she stopped in her tracks, as did Jack and Lopunny.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Olivia asked, as she and Oricorio stopped in their tracks.

"We're not alone," Panne told her. "Who's there?! Show yourself!"

* * *

In a tree not too close nor too far from them, hid a figure, concealed in a midnight black cloak and top half of his face hidden under a hood. He smirked when he noticed how alert they were.

' _Huh. I see they were taught well. Then again, it's to be expected,_ ' he thought. ' _Too bad this is where their journey ends._ ' He silently took out a dagger from his person and tossed it at a tree, which had a bulls-eye on it. Once the weapon struck dead in the center, strings attached to the bulls-eye were cut off and retracted.

* * *

Back to the Shepherds group, Panne, Jayne and Jack heard the sound of something being cut, followed by another sound. Next thing they knew, arrows were shot at them from both sides. Jayne and Panne both dodged to avoid them while the Weavile deflected the arrows coming at him, Olivia and Oricorio. The two dancers both ducked for cover while Kazuki and Yasu pinned themselves closer to Panne's back.

After they managed to avoid the arrows, Jayne landed on something. Jack turned in time to see what the Lopunny landed and quickly shouted, "Wea!" Instantly, the Normal-type stayed in place.

"What's wrong?!" Panne asked, looking their way.

Kazuki looked up from her spot and saw what was beneath Jayne's foot. "That's a mine!"

"A mine?" Olivia asked, not knowing what a mine was.

"In other words, a bomb! An explosive!" The adults widened their eyes at the description. "If she removes her foot from there, it will go off!"

"Then what do we do?!" Olivia asked.

"Vile vila wea!" Jack said, approaching the Lopunny. He then used a small Blizzard on the device.

"What's he doing?" Panne asked.

"He's freezing the mine," Kazuki explained. "By freezing it, he can also deactivate the bomb. But that takes a lot of patience and concentration."

Olivia and Panne took a gulp as they looked back at the Weavile and the immobilized Lopunny, watching as the mine was slowly starting to freeze. Jack held up a claw to Lopunny, slowly counting down from his fingers and signaling Jayne when she could move. When his claw reached zero, Lopunny slowly moved her foot off the device before getting frozen with it. Everyone released a breath they didn't know they were holding.

"That was a close one," Olivia said.

"Jayne. Are you okay?" Panne asked her partner.

"Pu-... Punny," she hesitantly nodded.

Oricorio looked ahead of them and had her jaw dropped at the sight. "Oricor!" Everyone looked at the direction she was looking at and gasped at the sight. The path ahead was a minefield.

Thankfully, there was a way around them, as Jack let out a full-power Blizzard, freezing the ground.

"Good thing we have Jack with us," Olivia said.

"Indeed," Panne agreed.

"Nice one, Jack!" Kazuki cheered

Jack smiled at the praises.

* * *

Back with the shadow figure, he simply smirked when he saw the group bypass his traps.

' _Not bad. She especially trained you well,_ ' he thought, looking over at the Weavile of the group. ' _I think it's time to step things up a notch._ ' He then tapped something in his ear rhythmically, sending a message from a device within it.

* * *

While the small group was walking across the frozen path, besides trying not to slip on the ice for some, Panne, Lopunny and Weavile kept a close eye out for any possible danger.

"Panne, was there anything about traps around the cave we're heading?" Olivia asked.

"No. Besides, making traps is not the way of the taguel. Someone else is here," Panne answered.

"But who?" Kazuki asked.

"I don't know. But whoever is here is still around."

Just as she said that, Risen had appeared.

"More Risen?!" Olivia gasped.

"That man-spawn wasn't kidding about there being many here..." Panne growled.

"We're surrounded!" Kazuki exclaimed.

The group went back to back and kept their guard up, as a Risen charged at them with an axe in hand. Before it can swing its weapon down, it was cut into pieces. The group were all surprised to see the person responsible.

"What happened to not dealing with weaklings?" Panne questioned.

"Leaves a bad taste in my mouth if I let people die knowing that I could've done something," Varrick explained.

He and his two Pokemon arrived and killed off the Risen nearby. The remaining zombies all stepped back at the sudden arrivals.

"We'll take the ones ahead. You guys take the ones behind us." Without waiting for a response, the three powerhouses charged in at the majority of the Risen.

"Those idiots!" Panne exclaimed.

"But it seems like the only thing we can do at the moment," Olivia said, going along with the plan. And so, the group all dealt with the other Risen behind them.

As they fought, the figure watched with an unsatisfied expression. ' _Those guys are not suppose to be here,_ ' he thought. ' _Oh well. It's not like I can control a person's actions. Besides, this makes things more interesting._ ' The frown that was on his face turned into a smirk.

* * *

After getting rid of all the Risen, the Shepherds approached Varrick and his Ursaring and Aggron.

"Thank you again for your assistance. But why did you?" Olivia asked.

"Yes. Didn't you say you didn't want to deal with weaklings such as these Risen?" Panne recalled.

"I thought those ears weren't for show," the barbarian said to Panne. "True I said that, but I also said it'd leave a bad taste in my mouth knowing that I let people died when I could've done something about it. Make one thing clear: I could care less why you're here, but if we face those Risen again, don't get in our way or say bye-bye to life." Razor and Wrecker growled in agreement and warning.

"What was that?" Panne demanded, growling at the man.

"P-Panne, calm down!" Olivia calmed.

"Yeah. We're all friends here, aren't we?" Kazuki asked.

At the child's words, Panne reluctantly stepped down.

Seeing this made Varrick held back a laugh, in which none noticed, and looked away muttering, "Taguel." Of course, with her sharp hearing, though, Panne heard every action and glared at him, while his Pokemon just sweat dropped at their human's actions.

Before things could ever get ugly, Jack asked Panne how much farther the cave should be from where they currently were.

"It shouldn't be far now," she answered. "Come on." She walked forward. Passing the three non-Shepherds, she growled at them. The Pokemon duo growled back while Varrick just waved her off.

* * *

An hour of walking, the sun had set completely and they had arrived at a cave.

"That's the cave," Panne informed.

Olivia and her Oricorio looked around and noticed it seemed quite empty of Risen.

"It doesn't look like the Risen had made it here," the dancer said. Oricorio chirped in agreement. "Even Cori said so." At the unfamiliar name, the Dancing Pokemon looked up at her partner in confusion. "Oh. I forgot I didn't tell you. I... kind of thought of calling you 'Cori'. Is that okay?"

Happy with the nickname, Oricorio, or rather Cori, nodded and chirped happily.

"It's as Olivia said," Panne agreed. "I thought you said this area is crawling with Risen. I assumed you didn't mean it in a way that it would be in waves."

"No. Something isn't right here," Varrick said. "When we passed this area earlier, there were lots of Risen."

"Maybe it's bed time for them?" Kazuki guessed.

"Maybe. Or maybe it's something else..." The guy looked in the entrance. "There's a possibility they all went inside there. Unless if someone else beat us here and took them all out themselves that is."

"That's not possible. The only ones who would ever know of this cave or what's inside it are taguels," Panne retorted. "And not only that, but I'm the last of my kind."

"You never know. Maybe you're just the last of the group you're from."

"It's possible. Back home, there are Pokemon who lives in different group. They're same species, but they live in different habitats and don't always get along well," Kazuki explained.

"Kind of like packs of wolves?" Olivia asked.

"Vila," Jack nodded, confirming the question.

Panne, though considering the option, tried not to be hopeful about the possibility that there may be another one of her kind out there. Swallowing the hope down, she looked on ahead and said, "Let's go in and see for ourselves." And in they go.

* * *

Upon entering the cavern, the group saw that there was nothing unusual about it... yet. Varrick made some torches when they saw the place getting darker the deeper they went.

"Cave looks normal enough. You sure this is the right one?" he asked Panne.

"Of course I'm sure," she answered. "Kazuki, are you feeling okay up there?"

"I'm okay, Panne," the child answered. "Yasu too."

"Eevee," the Normal-type Pokemon nodded.

"It's been on my mind for quite a while, but why are you close to that child?" Varrick asked.

"Why should it matter to you?" Panne asked back.

"It doesn't. Just curious. I thought you taguel don't like humans. Could it be that... you're a disgrace to your own kind?" This caused the rabbit-form girl to turn and glare at him.

"What was that?!"

"It's the only reason I can think of for you to get this stone you're searching for. I mean, why else would you be looking for it? Once you have that stone, you'll be human for the rest of your life." That piece of information surprised the rest of the group.

"What...?" Panne was especially surprised by the reveal.

"That's what happened to the rest of the taguel who used it. Why do you think it wasn't heard of if they had succeeded in making the thing? Because even if they do turn human because of the stone, people found out about their true identity and killed them. And because they were turned human because of the stone, they can't change back to their normal identity, making them vulnerable and easier to kill."

Panne lowered her head, her shock increasing by the words coming out of his mouth. "But that can't..."

It was here, Jack had enough. "Weavile vile."

Everyone turned to him, confused with what he said.

"What is it, Jack?" Olivia asked.

"What do you want?" followed Varrick. "Hate to break it to you, but none of us here know what you're saying. Except the Pokemon that is."

"How do you know?" Panne questioned.

"What? You can't be telling me you can understand. Then again, I suppose you are animals. No offense to you guys." The last statement was directed to Razor and Wrecker.

"As a matter of fact, I can." Varrick looked at her, eyes widened slightly. "He asked... 'How do you know'?" Jack was talking while Panne was translating everything he was saying. "'We never told you about the stone we're looking for. Or even why we're here. And the only way you could ever know about this cave and the stone it contains is if...'" Panne trailed off as she realized what Jack was saying. She looked Varrick's way in disbelief and stepped closer to him. "That can't be possible."

Sensing that Panne was changing back, Kazuki got herself and Yasu off her. As the taguel returned to her normal self, she walked closer to the guy.

"You can't be. There's no way someone like you could be a taguel!" she claimed.

"Someone like me? That's quite rude, don't you think?" Varrick said. "But... it is. I am a taguel, affected by the human stone."

For a second there, Panne was going to believe him when...

"No you're not." Olivia spoke up. "I thought you were familiar. You used to be in Ferox."

"Yes... For a visit, that is. Pretty cold over there. Surprised that you could handle it," the guy said.

"It wasn't a visit." If there was ever a time where they see Olivia so sure, so confident, so outspoken, this may be the only time those in the Shepherds had ever seen her as such. "You lived there. You were the powerful fighter in Ferox under the East Khan. But you were addicted to the power, to your growing status, and you grew bored of fighting the other men, especially if it isn't to the death. Instead, you had your soldiers go on suicide missions where you will always be the only survivor and was banished for it! You've lived with us for years!"

For every word coming out of her mouth, their suspicions towards Varrick and his Pokemon grew. All eyes were on them, as the Ursaring and Aggron turned to the human. Not in confusion, no; but more as if they were waiting for an order to be given.

"... Why can't you always be the silent girl, Olivia?" the guys said. Next thing they knew, Varrick took out a dagger from his person and tossed it at her. Thankfully for the dancer, Jack was fast enough to intercept the weapon. "Take care of the Pokemon!" At that order, Razor and Wrecker let out a roar and came at Jack and Jayne with a Hammer Arm and Metal Claw respectively. Varrick swung his sword at Panne, who managed to jump away in time.

"I should've known there was something off about you!" the taguel said.

"Yeah? Well too bad you're so slow to catch on."

Panne glared at him at the insult. "Kazuki! You and Yasu hide!"

The child ninja did as told and hid behind a boulder with her Eevee.

With the fully evolved Pokemon, it was Jack vs Razor and Jayne vs Wrecker. With the former duo, Jack was doing everything he could to avoid the Ursaring's strong attacks. And thanks to the latter using Hammer Arm earlier, it slowed him down, giving the Weavile the advantage in speed, as he used Hone Claws every chance he got. Once Jack had powered up enough, he struck Razor hard with an Aerial Ace to the gut. However, in doing so, he left himself wide open, as Razor struck him with a Payback attack. Luckily for Jack, due to his type, it didn't do much damage to him. Same can't be said when Razor followed up his attack with another Hammer Arm, knocking the Weavile away and weakening him greatly.

With Jayne and Wrecker, the former wasn't having better luck herself. As much as she increased her speed with Agility, the Aggron somehow still knew where she was going to attack and blocked them all. Not only that, but she kept attacking him with Jump Kick and Dizzy Punch, both Fighting-type moves that are super effective against a Pokemon like Aggron, and yet, the Iron Armor Pokemon barely flinched as the attacks made contact. When she went in for another Dizzy Punch, this time Wrecker caught her fist and used Heavy Slam to ram her into a wall. Due to the comparison in... power, the attack was strong enough to almost knock her out.

Kazuki and Yasu gasped when they saw how easily beaten the Pokemon were. And one of them was Jack, one of the strongest Pokemon the ninja-in-training knew. Looking back at Panne and Olivia, she saw that they weren't having much of a better time. Varrick proved to be too strong for them both, just as Olivia had said. Not even teaming up against him or having one distract him would work. And to make things even worse...

"Come on! This can't be all you got!" Varrick wasn't even trying to fight, as he knocked Panne away with the flat side of his sword.

"You weren't kidding about how crazy strong he is," the taguel said to the dancer.

"I only heard rumors and saw a few fights. I didn't think he was actually this strong," she admitted.

"Oh, dearie. You don't know how strong I can really be," he said, charging at the pinkette.

Olivia brought her sword up to block the killing blow. Although that worked, the force behind the attack both knocked her back and broke her only weapon.

"Olivia!" Panne cried out in worry.

"Worry about yourself!" Varrick shouted, coming at her next.

Panne managed to jump over him and charged in to attack when...

"Aaaahhhhh!" She and everyone else stopped in their track when they heard Kazuki's friend. Looking over to the boulder she and Yasu were hiding, Panne's eyes widened when she saw Yasu on the ground unconscious and Kazuki in the arms of an unknown man, held by her neck.

"Kazuki!" Abandoning her fight with Varrick, Panne charged in at the man holding Kazuki hostage. The guy tossed his cloak at her, blocking her vision as he made his escape with the struggling girl.

"Panne!" she screamed out.

Returning to her original form, Panne removed the cloak just in time to see the man disappearing in the shadows. "Hey!" She rushed after him, only for a wall to suddenly show up and blocked her path. "Kazuki! KAZUKI!"


	7. The Discovery and the Reveal

**Okay! I finally updated this chapter! Believe me when I say I wanted this up earlier, but I had tests, and homework, and work work, and projects to do! And none were fun for me! BUT! With my summer break coming up, I will have time to update more at a faster pace!**

 **... is what I want to say, but I signed up for summer classes, so that is partially a lie. Then again, it depends on how the class goes.**

 **Other than that, I am also co-writing with a friend in a fanfiction story and I am really loving how it is going so far. If you guys are Persona 5 fans, I recommend you read that story. It is called P5: Phantom Drive. **

**Now... let's start this new chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or Pokemon. I also do not own the opening.**

* * *

 _ ***OPENING***_

 ** _(Instrumental)_**  
 _(Grima had his clutches on a fallen Ylisstol. He opened his mouth to reveal a colorful orb that split into different color lights. A map of Ylisse appeared in the background and the lights all landed on different places. Camera zooms in to the blue light)_

 _ **It used to feel like a fairy tale**_  
 _ **Now it seems we were just pretending**_  
 _(Lucina is seen walking in the woods with her mask on_  
 _A strong wind blew and removed the mask from her face._  
 _Lucina turned and saw her friends behind her, whom all disappeared as Roxy appeared in their place)_  
 _ **We'd fix our world**_  
 _ **Then on our way to a happy ending**_  
 _(Lucina and Roxy continued to walk in the woods, unaware of Coral watching over them as she took her leave.)_

 _ **Then it turned out life**_  
 _ **Was far less like a bedtime story**_  
 _(Scene changed to Ylisstol in the castle, where Chrom and Robin danced in the throne room_ _)_  
 _ **Than a tragedy**_  
 _ **With no big reveal of the hero's glory**_  
 _(Camera zoomed in on Chrom's mark. Color changed and camera zoomed out, changing the scene to Lucina facing Grima_ _)_

 _ **And it seems we weren't prepared**_  
 _(Scene changed back to Coral in her burning village, her family standing before her.)_  
 _ **For a game that wasn't fair**_  
 _(Camera zoomed around them and replacing Coral's family was a cloaked man, with six shadowed Pokemon by his side)_

 _ **Do we just go home?**_  
 _ **Can we follow through?**_  
 _(Scene changed in Plegia, as camera moved from Aversa, to Validar, to a cloaked Plegian in Robin's clothes to Grima behind them.)_  
 _ **When all hope is gone,**_  
 _ **There is one thing we can do**_  
 _(The Fell Dragon let out a loud roar, summoning many Risen by their side, all who charged in to fight)_

 _ **Let's just live!**_  
 _ **Day by day and not be conquered by our sorrows**_  
 _ **The past can't hold us down**_  
 _ **We must break free**_  
 _(Chrome and Gladiknight fought against a pair of Risen Chief, with Robin and Sparky providing backup_  
 _The Shepherds all fought against Risen of the same class as them in pairs, with their Pokemon fighting alongside them)_

 _ **Let's just live**_  
 _ **Just one day let's forget about our problems**_  
 _ **Let's fall in love with life**_  
 _ **And just be free**_  
 _(Scene changed again to Lucina's friends from the future, all fighting off against their own Risen)_  
 _ **The sun will never fade**_  
 _(Lucina and a boy wearing the same cloak as Robin's killed a chief together)_  
 _ **The night won't steal our day**_  
 _(The scene changed to the future kids in the peaceful woods, looking at the camera)_  
 _ **Let's laugh and dance and love and let's just live**_  
 _(Scene changed again to Chrom, Robin, and Coral looking at the sky from their castle balcony, with the title appearing)_

* * *

Last time, Panne, Olivia, Kazuki, their Pokemon and Jack set off on a small quest to find the stone that turns taguel into human. Along the way, they met up with some strangers called Varrick, Razor and Wrecker. At first, they seemed to be neutral, then they were seen as allies, but when Varrick let out that they knew about the human-stone, it was then everything went wrong. And things got even worse, as a stranger came and kidnapped Kazuki. Will the group save the girl? Or will their conflict with one another destroy themselves first?

After Kazuki's kidnapped, the Shepherds ceased their fight with Varrick and his Pokemon to search for the missing child, the weakened Yasu in Olivia's arms.

"Kazuki!"

"Kazuki!"

"Kazuki!"

"Where are you?!"

Everyone was worried about the little girl, all wondering what was happening to her at the very moment and why the kidnapper took her. Out of all of them, there was one who was worried the most.

"Kazuki! Kazuki!" Panne was frantic ever since Kazuki was taken. She turned into her beast form, and searched every nook and cranny of the cave for the girl. She even went as far as to ram herself into cave walls every once in a while, in hope of finding some kind of secret entrance.

Jayne was worried about her trainer's situation and placed a hand/paw on her shoulder. Instead of calming down, however, the taguel reverted back to her human form and slapped her hand away.

"Don't touch me!" she shouted. "Right now, Kazuki could be in danger! I have to get to her!"

"Hey now. We're just as worried about Kazuki as you are," Jack told her. "You don't have to take it out on Jayne!"

"Shut up, Jack! Like you even know how worried I am for her!"

"Of course I know! She's the daughter of my trainer's friends! Plus she's a kid! Believe me, I know how scary Yuuki gets when it comes to her daughter!"

' _Times like this I wish I know what they're saying,_ ' Olivia thought, practically listening to a one-sided conversation.

"You think I'm scared of some manspawn?! That's not even close to why I'm worried!" Panne shouted at Jack.

"Then why?!" he demanded.

"That's for me to know! Now if you're going to keep wasting my time, then you all continue to the human stone!" Without another word, Panne left the group.

"Panne, wait!" Olivia called.

Unfortunately, the taguel wasn't stopping or returning to them.

The dancer turned to the Weavile and asked, "What did you say to her?"

"I just said that she should calm down," he answered. However, since he was speaking in his language, Olivia didn't understand a word. She sweat dropped at the realization.

' _Why did I ask?_ ' she wondered.

"Hey," came a voice none of them wanted to hear. Olivia and the Pokemon all turned and saw Varrick approaching them. "Look... About what happened back there-"

"Why are you here?" Olivia interrupted. "Things would've been better if you hadn't followed us! Kazuki wouldn't have gotten kidnapped if you didn't attack us!"

"Look, I understand that-"

"You do not! This is practically the reason why you were banished form Ferox! You never thought about anyone but yourself! It's bad enough you got the warriors under you killed, but now a child's going to die because of you!"

While Olivia was shouting her heart out at Varrick, blaming him for what happened to Kazuki, both Jack and Jayne just looked at her in shock, unaware that the shy dancer would have this side of her. Cori hasn't been with them long, so she wouldn't know about Olivia's nature. Much.

"I know it's my fault, woman!" Varrick shouted, frightening the dancer a little, just enough to stop her from talking. The guy then flushed a little, avoided eye contact, scratched the back of his head and said, "Look. I'll help you look for the brat, if it's enough to make up for it."

"And why should we trust you? After what happened earlier?" Jack asked.

"Assuming you're asking me why I should be trusted, well I helped you guys out earlier when you were surrounded by the Risen, didn't I? Besides..." He pointed to his Pokemon companions. "These two will continuously get on my case if I don't help you find her."

Both Razor and Wrecker sweat dropped at the second half, knowing how much of a lie that was.

Olivia turned away with a huff and said, "Well, I guess you'll be forgiven if you help us find Kazuki..."

This time it was the Shepherds Pokemon's turn to sweat drop at her action.

"Forgiveness? I never thought I would ever need one from you," Varrick said.

"Not me," the dancer corrected. "I mean Panne. I do care for Kazuki, but Panne cares more about her in a way you'll never understand." With that, the dancer continued on down the path Panne went, resuming the search. Jack, Jayne and Cori followed after her.

Varrick sighed and also followed them, with Razor and Wrecker not far behind.

* * *

Meanwhile, with Panne, she had been sniffing the air for Kazuki and the napper's scent and her ears up and alert for any heartbeats. As she did so, she was having an unpleasant trip down the memory lane.

* * *

 _ ***FLASHBACK***_

It was years before she assisted the Shepherds in saving Emmeryn's life. She was in the woods with her group of taguel, hiding from some human hunters or slave merchants. With her was a small, male taguel, her brother, Kayne.

"Big sister... I'm scared," he whispered, not wanting to be found by the men.

"It's okay. Big sister is always here for you, Kayne," she vowed, patting him on the head to calm him.

Time passed after that. Every once in a while, if there was a human nearby, the group all hid somewhere in the woods to avoid being seen by them. Other than that, though, things had been peaceful for them. That is... until one day...

"Kayne! Kayne! Where are you?!" Panne cried out.

There was fire everywhere, caused by a human hunter as a mixed group of hunters and slavers hunted down the panicking taguels. Some of the frightful creatures got hit by daggers and magic and were captured. Some were caught in traps that the hunters had set up. Some... Let's just say they were extremely unlucky.

Panne, on the other hand, was one of the very few who didn't panic as much as most. Or to be more precise, she wasn't panicking over being found by humans nor the possibility of getting caught by them. She was panicking... because she couldn't find her brother.

"Kayne! Answer me!" she shouted. Due to the flames, the screams, the laughters, and the fast heart race, however, she wasn't able to hear or sniff out her lost sibling. And it didn't help that she was running from their pursuers too.

After somehow managing to avoid capture and death, Panne went back to the hideout, which was now burned down from the flames. She searched amongst the many corpses left behind, hoping to find her brother alive and not captured by the man spawn. But alas... amongst the many corpses, she was not able to find her one and only relative, be it dead or alive. All she found... was her brother's black bandana.

"No... NOOOOO!"

* * *

 _ ***END OF FLASHBACK***_

' _I'm not letting it happen again,_ ' she thought, running faster than before. ' _I refuse to let another die on my watch!_ '

* * *

With Kazuki and her kidnapper, the former got knocked out by the latter for screaming and struggling the way she did when they got away from the other Shepherds earlier. As the napper ran, he ended up at a dead end.

He placed a hand on one part of the wall, which was pushed deeper in, and revealed a hidden door. As soon as he walked in, the door closed, encasing the room in darkness. Torches on walls were then lit up and revealed a path for the kidnapper.

He walked down the path until he entered a room, where five other cloaked people like him were.

"Well look who finally decided to show?" said one of the five. "You're late, newbie."

"Don't bother with him," another one of the five spoke. "Besides, he's not that new anymore."

"Guy's always going to be 'newbie' in my eyes if he keeps acting this way."

"Enough," demanded another one of the five, this one sounding much older than the others. "We're already wasting time as is." To the kidnapper, he then said, "Refrain from losing track of time. We don't have much of it left."

"I understand," he answered. "Apologies for the wait. However, I believe I have the solution to our problem." This got everyone's attention.

"And how is that, newbie?" the first of the five questioned.

"The people before us had created the stone to make us humans, correct? What did they use again?"

"Many questionable things. Herbs, animal parts, dark magic..." a female amongst them listed.

"But were there any that is human?"

"Not of what I remember... Why?"

The kidnapper tossed Kazuki to the floor, unpleasantly waking her up and shocking his allies.

"Ow ow ow... That hurts..." she whined. Looking up, the child ninja noticed she was surrounded by many strangers. To be surrounded in a dim lit room with a group of unknown people frightened her. "W-Who are you guys...?"

"A child?! I never thought you'd ever..." the second cloaked man spoke.

"If you brought her here, don't tell me..." trailed off the last member, another female.

"No one has tried it yet, have they? We know how the ritual is done, and we still have the incomplete Humanstones," the kidnapper reasoned. "These stones are suppose to make us humans. Shouldn't it make sense for there to be something human in it to make it work?"

"That's like saying the Beaststones were used with animal parts. Or our's for that matter. That's why you're always the newbie," the first man claimed.

"No, it may make sense," the elder said. "Besides, as he said, this is something no one has done yet. And time is currently not on our side. It won't hurt to try."

"I feel sorry for the child, even though she's human," the second female said.

"Well, it can't be helped. Besides, think of it this way. She won't die in vain, if this works," the first female reasoned.

At the word 'die', Kazuki flinched and tried to escape. Instantly, her kidnapper held her down, while she struggled to be released. "If we're to do this, we must do it now. There are others here. And I doubt the Risen guarding the entrance is going to hold them off for long, should they find it." They all nodded in agreement and prepared the ritual.

* * *

Back with majority of the Shepherds and Varrick's team... So to say, it was deja vu all over again for them, for they were surrounded by Risen once again.

"So this is where the rest of them were," the banished Ferox warrior said, with a hint of an amused tone.

"This is not the time to be amused!" Olivia scolded.

"You have one odd human, you know that?" Jack said to Razor, as they both took down a Risen Fighter.

"Believe me, I know," he agreed.

Jayne jump kicked a Risen away. "I wonder how Panne is doing," she wondered, hoping that she wasn't fighting off a group herself, alone.

"I'm sure she's fine," Cori assured, using her Revelation Dance at a couple of the undead soldiers.

"I hope so." As Jayne faced off a Risen Myrmidon, she was unaware of a Risen Mage preparing a fire magic at her. "Yasu, are you okay?!"

"Y-Yes!" the young Normal-type answered. Earlier, the Eevee regained conscious.

Wrecker, who was taking down a pair of soldiers, noticed this. "Hey! Look out!"

Just as the mage was about to fire, he was axe-kicked in the head by a certain taguel.

"Guys!" Panne cried out.

"Bout time you returned, taguel!" Varrick shouted.

"Save it! Kazuki's nearby! And these guys are in the way!" Enraged, Panne went into her beast form and fought against a handful of Risen, ferociously killing them before they could land a hit on her.

Simply hearing the news that Kazuki's near and that the Risen were actually preventing them from advancing made the rest of the Shepherds hasten their fight, killing off the Risen at a faster pace than before.

* * *

With Kazuki, the child was tied up to a pole and gagged, watching in fear as the six cloaked people practically prepare for her death. She tried to break free, but the restraints were too tight and she didn't have a weapon of any kind to help her, not like she was even allowed any. Not only that...

"Try anything funny and I'll break you," threatened the cloaked man that insulted her kidnapper.

' _He's too scary to do anything..._ ' she thought, crying anime tears. ' _I'm scared... Someone, help me._ '

"Hey. This ritual isn't going to work if she's dead. Stop scaring her," said her napper.

"Huh? It'd be her own fault if she dies. She shouldn't try anything funny to begin with," the guy said. "Besides, you shouldn't have gotten a kid in the first place if you think this is going to work."

"Does it look like I have the time to go to a village full of them and bring back an adult, idiot? We're running out of it, or has the side effect already gotten to you?"

This caused the two cloaked guys to glare at each other, wanting so hard to take down the other person.

"Stop your meaningless squabble," the elder ordered. "Preparation is almost complete. Go to your spots. And bring the girl, too."

The two did as told and dragged Kazuki to the ritual circle. The child tried to fight against their grips, but failed miserably and was pushed to the floor.

"Now then. Let us begin." The six figures took their spot on the edge of the circle, arms raised as the leader began to chant.

* * *

Outside the room, the group was still occupied with the Risen. The undead army was coming at them like a swarm of cockroaches; when one goes down, two more comes around. To the Shepherds, it was like the final battle of the war against Plegia all over again, especially when they were feeling fatigued from fighting for so long.

"There's just no end to them!" Panne growled.

"For once, I agree," Varrick said, just as annoyed as she about the Risen.

"The Pokemon are getting exhausted too," Olivia informed, as Cori fell on her butt in exhaustion and Razor started to breath heavily.

Jack gritted his teeth in slight anger, blaming himself for his selfishness. If he hadn't spoken about his problem, they wouldn't be in this mess, and Kazuki wouldn't be taken.

As a Risen approached him with its sword, Jack prepared a Metal Claw. However, he was already at his limit, and the move faded away. Instead, the Weavile caught the blade in between his claws and tossed it away. He then jabbed both his claws through the zombie and killed it. Jack was started to get tired of the fighting and fell on his knees. Unknown to him, a Risen fighter raised its axe to attack him from behind.

Olivia noticed this. "Jack, look out!"

He turned and saw his assailant swinging the weapon down at him, going for the kill. Suddenly, the axe broke and the Risen was cut to pieces. The same happened to all the Risen near the group. There, floating between the Shepherds and the undead army, was Kartana.

"Aren't you... Coral's Pokemon guard?" Panne asked.

"Leave this to me! You guys go!" it told them.

"Am I right in guessing that paper thing is telling us to go on ahead while it takes care of them?" Varrick asked.

"That's what it looks like," Olivia agreed.

"Thanks!" Panne quickly thanked, already going on ahead.

"Wha-?! Panne!" The rest of the group followed, leaving Kartana with the Risen.

When the group got to a dead end, they skid to a stop.

"A dead end?" Varrick questioned.

"Not entirely," Panne corrected. "I hear voices on the other side."

"There has to be a secret passage around here, then," Jack suggested.

"Agreed. Scan the walls! Hurry!" At the taguel's words, the group feel the walls for anything suspicious.

Jack noticed one part of the wall seemed different from the rest and placed his claws on it. The wall sunk and revealed a hidden passage. " _Found it!_ " he informed. At that, the group turned to the door.

"A secret passage!" Olivia exclaimed.

Just then, a familiar scream was heard.

"That's Kazuki!" Panne shouted.

"Kazuki!" Yasu cried out in worry.

"Come on!" At Varrick's insistence, the group hurried through, hoping to get to the child in time.

* * *

Down below, Kazuki was screaming in great pain from the ritual as the people around her continued their chant. The incomplete Humanstone in front of her started to glow and floated off the ground.

"Kazuki!" came a faint shout.

"They got through?!" questioned the insulter. "Newbie! You underestimated them!"

"I said I doubt the Risen would hold them off long," the kidnapper corrected.

"Enough. Either you will help continue the ritual or you will keep them distracted," the elder told them. "We don't need all six of us at this point."

At that, the two and one of the females ran out while the other three continued the ritual.

* * *

Panne, Olivia, Varrick and the Pokemon continued their way down the dark path, picking up their pace each time they hear Kazuki's painful cries.

Panne's ears twitched, as she heard something coming their way. "Get down!" At her shout, everyone lied on the ground, as a few knives were thrown past them.

"Tch. Missed," came a voice. The group looked up and saw the three cloaked figures standing in front of them.

One whiff, and Panne bared her fangs at the group. "YOU!" She charged in at the trio, mainly the person who took Kazuki. The guy jumped back last second, avoiding her claws. While irritated that she missed him, Panne then swiped at his two companions near her, both who also moved back and avoided her.

"Whoa! She's one angry taguel!" said the kidnapper's insulter.

"That anger will be her downfall," the female of the three stated.

"I'll handle her. You two take care of the others," Panne's target said. Before either of them could say anything in response, especially the insulter, the kidnapper engaged combat with Panne.

"Hey! Why do you get to have all the fun?!" the guy questioned.

"Want fun?" asked Varrick, as he suddenly got at his face. "I'll give you fun." Next thing the guy knew, the banished Feroxi warrior swung his chipped blade at him, in which the cloaked figure responded by unsheathing his own sword in time to block the strike. The force behind it, however, was powerful enough to knock him away.

The female faced down against Olivia and the Pokemon. The pinkette raised her sword with trembling hands, not knowing how strong her opponent was. "You're frightened, I see," the cloaked female stated. "You're scared that you might die from this battle. If you're so scared of death, then you should just leave and forget you ever even stepped foot. However, since your friends are here and we have the little girl, you're willing to go past that fear to save her. For that I commend you."

Olivia was quite shocked at how on-point the claims were, but tried not to show it.

"However... like your taguel friend with her anger, your courage will be your ultimate downfall." At those words, the unknown female rushed at the dancer, pulling out a lance from her person as she did so.

The speed she went was too fast for Olivia to see, as Jack suddenly got in between them and caught the pointy weapon in his claws.

"You're opponent is me!" he shouted, managing to push her back.

"... So be it," she said, getting ready to fight against the Weavile instead.

"Jack!" Olivia cried out.

"Leave this to us! You bring the other Pokemon to Kazuki! She's in huge danger!" Jack told her in his language.

Though she didn't quite understand what he had said, the dancer knew what the Sharp Claw Pokemon's intentions were. "I got it. Let's go!" At that order, Olivia led the rest of the Pokemon further down the hall.

"You're not going any further!" the insulter claimed, attempting to cut in front of them, when Varrick got in his way first.

"Where do you think you're going? You're opponent... is me!" He swung his sword at him, forcing him back once more.

As he skid to a stop, from the shadows under his hood, his eyes widened in shock as he stared at Varrick. ' _What the hell is he? There's no way a human can ever be this strong!_ '

Varrick noticed Razor and Wrecker staying behind while Olivia and the other Pokemon left. "You two go with them. No doubt there are others up ahead." With his command, the other two Pokemon followed after the group.

Seeing the two strong-looking Pokemon leaving, Varrick's opponent let a small smirk form on his face as he said, "You're letting them go instead of staying here? You must be extremely overconfident there."

"Shut up," the ex-Feroxi said, glaring at the man in front of him. "And attempt to make my day."

Hearing those words with the face he was making extremely frightened the cloaked man.

* * *

With the other half of the cloaked figures, Kazuki was still screaming in unbearable pain. As she screamed, the remaining cloaked female tilted her head away from the child.

The other remaining young, cloaked male next her noticed this and said, "I know this is unbearable to see, but we have to do this," he whispered.

"I know. I know but... It's too cruel," she whispered back.

"Life is full of cruelty."

"Kazuki!" came Olivia's voice. The cloaked figures, minus the leader, looked to the entrance in the room and saw Olivia and the Pokemon enter. The dancer's eyes widened when she saw the state the child was in. "Hey! Leave Kazuki alone! Cori, Revelation Dance!" At her order, the Oricorio produced flames from her wings and fired at the cloaked figures.

The female pulled out a book and casted a fire spell of her own at the attack, cancelling it out.

"So it seems some of you got past the other three," the leader spoke. "No matter." To his remaining members, he ordered, "You two, take care of them. I will be enough from here." With that, the two other cloaked figures engaged in combat with the Shepherds. The female by firing another fireball, and the male by firing a pair of arrows at them.

Jayne used a Quick Attack and intercepted the arrows, breaking them before they even come close to killing her friends, while Cori used Mirror Move and intercepted the fireball with her own.

"Why don't you stay out of our way?" the archer questioned.

"And let you kill Kazuki?! Never!" Olivia answered. "Stop this ritual and give her back to us!"

"If we say yes, are you willing to take her place?" the cloaked mage asked, confusing the dancer. "We need a human for this ritual. If you don't want the child to die, are you willing to take her place then?"

"A human? Then why wouldn't any of you volunteer?! You're all human, aren't you?!"

"Us?" The archer and the mage looked at each other at the claim. Next thing the dancer and the Pokemon knew, both removed their hood... and god, were they shocked with what they were seeing. "Does this look at all human to you?" Both their faces were partially rabbit, similar to Panne's beast form, only more monstrous-looking.

"You're... You're all taguels? But why do you look like that?!"

"This is what happens... when a taguel uses an incomplete Humanstone," the mage explained. "We were humans for a short while. But after that, the beast part of us often takes control and go on a killing spree. After that, this is what becomes of us! And if you think that's bad, we have a time limit! On the midnight of the 12th full moon after we're exposed to this curse... we're forever to become those bloodthirsty monsters! Completing the Humanstone may be the one thing, the only thing, besides death, that can save us! And according to our new member, the only way to complete it... is with a human sacrifice."

"But there has to be another way!" Olivia tried to reason.

"We already tried. The taguels before us already tried! There is no other way. And as much as it pains me to say it, either you let us sacrifice the child or you sacrifice yourself in her place."

Olivia was conflicted. After hearing their story, she wanted to help them somehow. But she didn't believe that sacrificing a life was the way to do it. "There has to be another way!" she shouted once more.

The two taguels raised their weapons. "So be it," the archer said, as they fired more fireballs and arrows at the group.

* * *

Back with the majority of the group back in the halls, things were going well... for Varrick at least. Panne was head-to-head with the taguel that took Kazuki, and Jack was having a tough time with his opponent.

Now limited to a few more attacks, the Weavile did the best he could against the unknown taguel, avoiding the jabbing attacks and slashes from her lance and delivering some swipes whenever he had the chance. For the most part, however, they were at a standstill.

"You're better than I thought," the cloaked female stated. "I thought those Risen out there tired you out greatly. I see I greatly mistaken."

Jack gritted his teeth, sensing that his opponent will be stepping things up a notch.

"Now then... to go serious." She tossed her weapon away and took out something from her back. It was a lance, with the head being bolt-shaped. Jack could've sworn he was seeing sparks on the blade.

' _A magical weapon, is it?_ ' the Weavile thought. ' _Now I really do have to be careful._ '

The girl charged at him once more. Jack narrowly leaned to the side to avoid getting stabbed by the blade. It was then, he realized he made a mistake in doing so, as the lance unleashed shocks of electricity, hitting the Dark-type and weakening him even more.

"What... was that...?" Jack muttered in pain.

"Surprised?" the female asked. "Or rather... shocked?"

The Pokemon inwardly groaned at the horrible pun. When he opened on eye, he saw the lance above him and quickly rolled out of the way, avoiding a stab to the head. He took a deep breath and, with all his power, unleashed a powerful Blizzard. The move was strong enough to freeze his opponent's legs and blow her hood off. One look at her face, and Jack gasped in shock.

The girl let out a small shriek as she quickly tried to put her hood back on. Note: tried. The Blizzard's freeze effect also got to her hands, freezing them on her lance. Clenching her teeth from the cold, she glared at the Weavile.

"So now you know... HUH?!" she shouted, losing her previously blank tone. "This is why we need that kid!"

Over to Varrick, he was easily handling his cloaked enemy. No, to be exact, he was toying with him. Each strike the unknown taguel threw, the human easily blocked, with a smile on his face.

"Hey, come on, now! Where'd all that bravado go?!" the human questioned.

"S-Shut up!" the cloaked figure shouted, throwing yet another swing at the guy.

Varrick swung with his own blade, this time breaking the opposing blade. The cloaked taguel was shocked and lost for words, distracted long enough for Varrick to come up and hit him away from his spot and into a wall... right between Panne and her opponent.

"Dammit man-spawn! Were you trying to hit me?!" she accused.

"I didn't really hit you, did I?!" Varrick retorted.

Before Panne could say anything in return, Kazuki's kidnapper said, "I see you've changed." Confused, she looked his way and, from the corner of her eyes, noticed Varrick's opponent had his hood removed. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the face under it. It seemed human, but some part of his face seemed morphed. And by the looks of his ears, Panne could tell; this man was a taguel.

"A... A taguel?" she breathed out. "No. How can that be?!" Her ears perked up slightly as she realized something. Something that didn't bother her much with all her worrying over Kazuki. "You..." she spoke to the person who took the child. "Remove your hood."

"And why would I do that?" he asked.

"Because I want to know something."

"... Make me." At those two words, the kidnapper resumed the fight between them.

Unlike before, Panne wasn't fighting him with anger; this time, she was fighting with determination, one for finding out who, exactly, was under that hood. At some point, the guy threw a punch in which she ducked under and quickly grabbed him by the collar and tossed him over her shoulder. Her eyes widened when she saw what his face was. It may be half monstrous like the others, but the human side of his face? How can she ever forget?

"You can't be... How is this possible?" she spoke.

"Surprised?" the kidnapper asked. "Well, I guess you have every right to be. It's been years since we last saw each other after all."

There was no doubt in her mind now. The voice, the scent, the face. She couldn't believe it, but he was right in front of her, alive and well. For the most part, that is.

"Little brother?"

"Surprise, sis."

Kazuki's kidnapper... was Panne's long, lost brother...

She shook her head in disbelief. "No. No, this is a lie. A lie! My brother would never do any of this! Kidnapping a child?! He's too kind for that!"

"Correction: I was too weak!" Kayne retorted. Panne's eyes widened even further, for she had never, in her whole life, ever, heard her brother raise his voice like he did. "All my years, hoping we would ever find peace with the humans as taguels, and it never happen! Nor will it ever. The day those hunters and slave merchants came... They took me. I was crying out for you, sis. You were several feet away from me, you PROMISED you'll always be there for me! But that was just an empty promise, because you ran far ahead from me, your own brother, just to save your hide! I was this close to being sold as a slave had I not been saved by other taguels! Ones that had the solution to our problem! Well, for the most part, at least, as you can clearly see. We had tried to find ways to complete the Humanstone, used whatever magic we can find, whatever ingredients we can get our hands on, and it was then that it occurred to me... Of what we found and used, there was one way we haven't tried yet. Would the Humanstone be complete... if we used a human sacrifice?"

To hear those words coming out of his mouth, Panne didn't want to hear or believe any more of it. "You're lying!"

"I speak the truth! Unlike a sister who turned coward on her own brother!" She flinched at the claim. "And besides that, you're already too late." The slight fear turned into confusion, before she remembered why she fought Kayne in the first place. "The ritual is almost good as done."

"KAZUKI!" She quickly rushed to where the child was, the screams starting to get faint.

"No you don't!" Kayne tackled his sister down. "I'd rather sacrifice a life than live out my own as a monster I was not meant to be!"

"Kayne! Let me go! This isn't you!" Panne tried to reason, as she tried to get him to release her. Unfortunately, his grip on her was too tight and time was being wasted.

"It is now. Thanks to you."

* * *

Back in the room below, Kazuki was starting to lose strength to even scream, as she felt her life slowly fading.

Olivia and the Pokemon noticed this and the former tried to reason with the two taguels blocking them again. "Please! We can find another way! We have people back in Ylisse who can help you!"

"No human will ever accept us for who we are, so stop trying to lie," the archer said. "If you wish to keep stalling, be our guest. The ritual will be complete soon. All we need to do, is stall you guys a little longer while our leader is making the finishing touches."

A pair of familiar roars was then heard as Wrecker and Razor both appeared from behind Olivia's group and hit them both with a Heavy Slam and a Take Down.

"You two..." the dancer breathed.

"Sorry for the lateness!" Wrecker apologized.

"Hurry to the kid!" Razor shouted.

Yasu nodded in understanding and gave Olivia a push to Kazuki's direction. The human understood what was going on and rushed to the child. "Thank you!" she said as she passed the two heavy hitters.

"Hey!" The mage taguel shot out another fireball at the dancer, which got intercepted by Razor's Slash.

"Where are you looking at?" the Ursaring questioned with a smirk.

"Your opponents are over here," Wrecker told the two. "Don't get in their way!"

The two taguels mentally cursed their luck, knowing they couldn't do anything to help their leader at the moment. Well, not like he needed one at this moment.

As Olivia's group ran towards the elder cloaked taguel, she raised her sword up in an attempt to knock him out with the flat side of the blade and stop the ritual. What she didn't expect, as she swung it down, was a barrier of some sort protecting him, as she got pushed away from the guy.

"What?" she questioned.

The other Pokemon tried attacking him themselves, but ended up with the same result as her.

"What is this?" Jayne gasped.

"How can our attacks not reach him?" Cori followed.

"You think we don't have a countermeasure against this?" the leader asked. "How stupid do you think we are? Now watch... as I complete the Humanstone!" He chanted an incantation, one different from before. Kazuki's body and the stone started to glow as the child screamed even louder, feeling a horrible, burning sensation all over her body.

"STOP! Please stop it!" Olivia cried out.

Unfortunately, the guy didn't stop and continued the chant.

"HEY!" Heads turned and everyone saw Varrick and Jack at the entrance. "Did you not hear her? She said to stop!" Both he and the Weavile rushed at the elder and, with everything they had, swung their chipped blade or claw down at him. However, the result still remains the same. But unlike with Olivia and the other Pokemon, neither gave up after the first strike and did everything they could to take down whatever barrier it was that was protecting him.

"Stop wasting your strength," the leader said. "Besides, it's getting hard to concentrate if you keep attacking like so."

"You think we're going to stop after hearing that? Think again!" Varrick shouted, his attacks getting more ferocious than before.

As they were attacking him, Jack noticed something off about the ritual. Earlier, it seemed quite close to being completed. But now? It seemed to be taking longer than he had thought. Not only that, but both Kazuki and the incomplete Humanstone weren't glowing as much as before. It didn't take him long to realize that the ritual needed at least one person to be completely focused and concentrated on it for it to finish. With the taguel focusing on putting up a barrier to prevent Jack and Varrick from interrupting, it won't be long until the ritual is cease to a stop and they save Kazuki.

Eventually, the leading taguel couldn't take much more of the distracting hits and had all his attention at the two attacking him, creating a force field strong enough to pushed them both away and into a wall. In doing so, the ritual ended and Kazuki and the Humanstone stopped their glow and fell on the ground.

"Damn you... What did you do?!" the elder demanded.

"Heh. Looks like the big guy finally wants to fight," Varrick said with a smirk.

"Says you. I'm just glad Kazuki's safe now," Jack said, eyes on the unconscious girl.

"You idiots!" the elder shouted. "Because of you-!" He suddenly stopped and started to hold his chest, as if having a chest pain or a heart attack. He then started to breathe strange and started to tumble down on his hands and knees. It wasn't just him; the archer and the mage were also acting this way, only in more pain, as are Kayne's group.

Seeing him suddenly writhe in pain worried Panne as she kneeled to his side. "Kayne! Kayne, what's wrong? Kayne!"

"How can it...? But I thought... we had more..." the boy can only let out.

Next thing Panne knew, he and many others were encased in stone, similar to how a taguel would be in their beast form. However... when the stone cracked, they didn't turn into large rabbits in armor. They were more monstrous, with huge fangs and claws and a long, scaly tail. Eyes were slits and blood red and they were drooling out saliva.

"Kayne..." Panne spoke. "Is that... you?"

Her 'brother' turned to face her. One look... and he charged at her with a bloodthirsty look. The normal taguel was swift enough to avoid him, narrowly dodging his long and sharp claws. She saw the other two also rushing towards her with the same look in their eyes and managed to dodge them as well.

"Kayne!" she cried out. But instead of recognition of any kind, the now-monstrous taguel responded with another attempt to kill her.

Before his claws can even touch her, Kartana appeared and blocked them with a Leaf Blade. It pushed the beast back and was about to go in for a kill when Panne shouted, "No don't!" Confused, it turned to her, wanting an explanation. "That's my brother! He's just... different, but that's him!"

Almost as though disagreeing with her, Kayne and his allies went in for the kill once more. Deciding to question her later, Kartana rushed at them itself, with another Leaf Blade prepared.

"Don't kill them!" Panne shouted.

Kartana didn't need to be told that to do the right thing. He only injured them enough to knock them out. Or at least... he tried to. It wasn't that he killed them, but the three monstrous taguels didn't get knocked unconscious by those hits and got back up, this time targeting the origami Pokemon. Kartana was too fast for them to land a single hit and did its best to not kill them as it counterattacked.

"You hurry to the others!" Kartana told Panne.

"What?" she asked.

"GO! If this is what happened to these three, who's to say if the others are safe?!"

As much as she wanted to stay and help, the taguel knew the others would also be in danger if this is what had become of Kayne and his two allies. "Don't die!" With that, she left.

* * *

Back in the ritual room, the remaining three also turned into monstrous taguels and were currently fighting the rest of the Shepherds. And Varrick's team.

"What the hell happened to these guys?!" the banished Feroxi warrior questioned, blocking a swipe from one of the monstrous taguels.

"This must be what those two were talking about!" Olivia said, avoiding a strike from another monstrous taguel. "They said the stone was incomplete when they tried to use it, to become humans. It worked, but with a price. They had 12 full moons at midnight to find a way to return to their normal selves before... this happens."

Varrick blocked another strike. "So what do we do now? Kill them?"

Hearing that suggestion angered Olivia. "There you go again! Thinking about fighting but not of the consequences in doing so!"

"What?! It's practically our only option now! Besides, these beasts-!"

"Are alive! They're people like us! Like Panne!"

"Oh, are they really? Tell me again when they're not killing us! But wait, by that time, we'll be dead!"

"Is this really the time to be arguing?!" the Pokemon all questioned in unison.

Just then, one of the monstrous rabbits noticed Kazuki, still lying on the floor and unmoving. Seeing how vulnerable she was, it moved closer to her instead.

Jack noticed it moving away from them and saw where it was heading to. "Hey, where do you think you're going?!" he shouted, rushing over to protect the girl. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to get to her in time, as the monster was already prepared to cut her in two.

"STOP!" Panne appeared in her rabbit form and got Kazuki out of the way in time, but got a large cut on her back in the process.

"Panne!" Jayne cried out in worry.

"I'm fine!" the taguel assured. Looking down at the child she had saved, Panne didn't have time to check and see if Kazuki was okay, as she heard a snarl behind her. Her ears perked up and she looked to the monster that almost killed Kazuki. "You... You may be my kind once before, but for what you did to Kazuki, what you almost did... I won't forgive you!" She leapt at the monster and tackled it down. Panne then leapt into the air and axe-kicked the monster deeper into the ground.

"We have to get out of here!" Olivia said.

"And what about the stone?!" Varrick asked.

"Kazuki is more important than that stupid stone! And we're all tired out! Come on!" With her insistence, the group all rushed out of the room, away from their pursuers, with Panne carrying Kazuki on her back.

As soon as they were all out of the cave, Olivia had Cori use Revelation Dance at the ceiling, creating a cave-in to block the group of monstrous taguels way out.

"Hopefully, that can hold them long enough," Varrick said.

"Kazuki! Kazuki!" Panne called, getting everyone's attention. They looked and saw her gently shaking the child awake. "Kazuki, wake up! Come on! Wake up, Kazuki!"

The child remained lying on the ground, not at all responding to her call. This left a bad thought on everyone's minds.

"Panne... I don't think-" Jayne spoke.

"No!" the taguel interrupted. "She was just breathing back there! She can't be... She can't..." Tears threatened to form in her eyes, not wanting to think of the possibility.

The Shepherds knew how much Panne cared about the child and couldn't help but be even more sad than before. Varrick looked away from the scene, clenching his shaking fists. Despite his crazy thirst for fights, he still had a heart for kids. To know that he was too late to save this one child... it left more than a bad taste in his mouth.

"I should never have brought her here... I've failed another," Panne whispered, blaming herself for what happened to Kazuki as she held the child close to her. "I'm so sorry, Kazuki."

"No. The fault was mine," Jack said. "I should never have spoken about my troubles."

"I promised Lady Coral I'd protect you guys. I should be blamed," Kartana spoke up. "I should've come sooner."

Everyone else was silent. Some were shedding tears at Kazuki's unfortunate passing. Others looked away in shame and guilt.

After a few seconds of crying, Panne heard a light groan.

"P-... Panne?" they heard. "Why are... you crying?"

Looking to the source, to their shock and relief, they saw Kazuki awake, looking up at Panne in curiosity and confusion.

The taguel felt her heart stop when she saw the girl look up at her. All the sadness and remorse she felt were replaced with relief and joy, as she hugged the child, surprising the young one.

"Whoa! Panne? What's wrong?" Kazuki asked.

"You're okay... Thank Naga..." Panne whispered.

From those words, the child could tell what had happened and hugged the taguel back. "Hey, it's okay. I'm okay," she told her, petting the older girl on the head.

* * *

After a while, the sun was starting to rise. The Shepherds were facing Varrick and his group as they were ways away from the cave.

"What will you three do now?" Panne asked.

"Don't know. Maybe I could sell this for starters," Varrick answered, holding out a familiar stone. The Shepherd group were shocked at the sight of it.

"The Humanstone?!" Olivia gasped.

"When did you-?!" Jack asked.

"Grabbed it when we were escaping. Those beasts are past saving, and it'd be a waste for this to be made and not do anything with it," Varrick explained.

"How did you even know about it?" Panne questioned, her eyes narrowed.

"Let's just say... I didn't spend the rest of my time since my banishment fighting." Varrick then tossed the stone to Jack. The Weavile caught it and looked up at him in confusion. "Thinking about it now, since it changes living things into humans, I highly doubt there'd be any merchant interested in a stone like that. You guys can have it. Besides, those guys used a kid's life to make it complete, if it really is complete that is. Adding that to the thought and I'll be having nightmares of kid slaves if I sell that thing."

The group looked at each other, all thinking that Varrick might not be that bad of a guy after all.

"Thank you!" Kazuki said. "For helping us out and giving us the Humanstone! Thanks so much!"

For some reason, Varrick turned away after the child thanked him. "Don't thank me. I just did what I wanted to do is all."

Wrecker and Razor looked at each other, knowing very well that it was nothing but a lie. He didn't want to admit it, but Varrick actually has a soft side towards children. If anyone knew, it'd practically be the end of him.

"So what are you guys going to do then?" Olivia asked.

"Guess I'll do what I always did with these guys; wander around, fight some good fights, just go with the flow," the guy answered. "Don't bother asking me to join. You, of all people, should know I'm horrible with groups."

"I wasn't going to ask anyway." The dancer didn't need to be reminded of his actions back in Ferox to know better than to ask him about joining the Shepherds.

"You really won't come?" Kazuki asked.

"Sorry. But I'd rather not work with other humans. Much less animals." The guy glanced at Panne when he said that, in which the taguel noticed and glared. "Well, in any case, we'll see you guys around." At that, he, Wrecker and Razor took their leave.

As soon as they were out of sight, Kazuki asked, "Do you think we'll see them again?"

"I hope not," Panne answered. "I don't like that man-spawn."

"Though he did help us save Kazuki and got us the Humanstone," Jayne pointed out.

"I suppose... Now, what do we do with the stone?"

"Let's see if it works," Jack suggested. Panne and most of the Pokemon all flinched when they heard him suggest that. "Let me finish! Look, I was practically the one who made this quest. The lease I can do is take responsibility for it. So, if I go feral like those other taguels did, if I show any sign of the side effects, I want you guys to kill me. Especially you, Kartana." The Ultra Beast of a Pokemon gasped at the specific request. "You're small, fast, and strong. If anyone can get this job done, it'd be you. After all, you're Coral's Pokemon, too. A ninja is always ready for death. Whether it'd be his own, or someone else's."

"Why are you telling me this?" Kartana asked.

"... Because I want you to take my place on her team." Panne and the Pokemon all widened their eyes at the Weavile's response.

Olivia and Kazuki, both who cannot understand the Pokemon language, looked at them all in confusion. "Wait, what's going on?" the dancer asked.

"Jack is going to test the stone to see if it works," the taguel answered. "And he said if it doesn't... We're to kill him on the spot and Kartana can take his place on Coral's team."

The humans' eyes widened at the situation. "Jack, you can't!" Kazuki cried out.

"He said he'll take responsibility for what happened."

"But that wasn't your fault!"

Panne placed a hand on Kazuki's shoulder, prompting the girl to look up at her. "I know how you feel. But this is something he has to do."

Reluctantly, she nodded and internally prayed nothing bad will happen to Jack.

The group all backed away from the Weavile, as he activated the stone. Like how Panne would go in her rabbit form, Jack was encased in stone. The boulder than broke off, revealing someone else in his place.

It was a human male around the 20s. He had on a black, zipped up jacket with red pockets and collar, black pants, and black shoes with metal claws on the front side. Hanging from the side of his pants was a long, red handkerchief, and around his purple hair was a red scarf. The guy also had on claw blade gauntlets, with the blades sheathed. He opened his eyes, revealing them to be red.

Everyone was silent, not knowing what to do at the moment.

"Jack?" Kazuki asked.

The man didn't answer and simply stood on his feet. He looked down on himself, from his hands, to his legs, to his whole body. He even touched his face and even stretched it some.

"It worked," he spoke. "The stone actually worked! It's still me!" At that, everyone cheered, not believing how big of a success it was.

"Do you feel anything funny?" Panne asked, to be on the safe side.

"Hmm... I don't feel odd. Except for these gauntlets." Jack held up his arms. "Kind of feel a bit uncomfortable. But I can deal with that."

"Can you still understand us?" Cori asked next.

"Yes, I can understand you. Wow, this is awesome!"

"You should change back so we can surprise the others when we return," Olivia suggested.

"You're right. Now... where is the Humanstone?" Spotting the said rock on the ground, he went to pick it up. However, the moment he made contact with it, the stone broke in half and crumbled.

Everyone froze when they saw that happened. "WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

"What just happened?!" Kazuki asked.

"How should I know?!" Jack replied. "I barely touched it! Panne, what happened?!"

"I don't know! This is the first time I've seen it used!" the taguel answered.

"You don't think it was a one-time thing, do you?" Olivia asked.

"One-time thing?! Then doesn't that mean I'm stuck in this form?!" the human-turned Pokemon asked.

"Beaststone and Dragonstone usually break after the user changed back, so that's a possibility," Jayne stated.

"So in other words I'm stuck like this?! How can I fight?!"

"How about your moves?" Yasu questioned.

"My moves?" Jack looked down at his gauntlet.

One grip on the bar in his palms, and the blades shot out. Looking towards a tree near them, he concentrated his energy in the blades like he would do as a Weavile. It took a lot of concentration, but as soon as he felt something from his hands, he went to strike. Normally, one Metal Claw would cut a tree in half. But in his current form, all it did was make a deep cut.

"Looks like I have to practice. But other than that, combat doesn't seem to be a problem for me," he said.

"You were the one panicking about how you can fight," Panne pointed out.

"Hey, I was caught up in the moment. Besides, where I come from, humans are not that good of fighters, so to say. I was a bit afraid being human now means no combat experience whatsoever. Glad that wasn't the case."

"I doubt being human means losing combat experience you gained," Cori said. "That's like saying I change to my other forms and forgetting how to dance in this form."

"Yes, I suppose you have a point there, Cori," Jack couldn't help but agree. "Well, I guess that means we have to break the news to the others this way. Hopefully, Frederick won't give me a hard time like he did to my trainer and Seth."

The group all nodded in agreement and started to walk back home. As they walked, Panne stopped in her track and looked back at the sealed cave, thinking about how she had failed her brother once again.

' _I'm sorry to have failed you, Kayne,_ ' she thought. ' _Twice. But, I promise. I will come back for you and figure out how to break that curse upon you and our other brothers and sisters. Until then..._ '

"Panne. Are you okay?" the taguel heard Kazuki asked. She looked down and saw the child and Yasu standing next to her, the latter on the former's head as they both looked up at her with a worried look in their eyes.

Panne let a small smile form and pat the two of them on the head. "I'm fine, little one."

A smile formed on Kazuki's face as she grabbed her by the hand. "Come on! We're falling behind!"

"Yeah!" Yasu agreed, as Kazuki dragged Panne over to the group ahead of them.

' _Until I can find out a way to break your curse, brother, wait for me,_ ' the taguel continued to think.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the cave, the monstrous taguels all continued to strike at the boulders in an attempt to clear the path. However, no matter how many times they strike, the wall of boulders wouldn't budge much.

"If you keep that up, you'll waste a lot of your energy and never leave," came a voice behind them.

They all looked and saw a cloaked figure behind them. One of them roared and dashed towards the figure. The figure threw something at the beast, causing it to fall unmoving. The rest of the monsters charged in right after, only to meet with the same fate.

"Now, now. Calm down, all of you," the figure said. "If you all kill me, you wouldn't get what you want. You want to be free of the curse? Well, there's a way to do that. I can help with that."


End file.
